We are all

bodies in motion

We  slide

   ride

   wheel

   feel

  force

our way into the music

in whatever form our bodies —

our  crip

   gimp

     spaz

   lame

 fat

   crooked

     but

     not

     broken

bodies,

take us

make us

 curve

   crash

 and soar

   our limbs

into the air

onto the floor

against chair

 poppin' wheelies

against crutch

 spinning in circles

against shoulder

 supporting dips

against stage

 supplying lift

and

  it's

    all

       fair

          game

when we're

 all

 game

all down for a dance

or two with you,

 woman four feet tall

 in sexy red heels

and you,

 man with white cane

 and smooth swagger

you,

 Deaf girl who throws

 off the hearing aid and

 throws up the peace sign

 during All You Need is Love

and you

   and you

     and you

who don't stop to ask

what's wrong with me

but only see what's right

in front of you:

 me

 dancing

   dancing

     dancing

Sami Schalk is a feminist poet from Southgate, Kentucky. She received her Bachelor degrees in Creative Writing and Women's Studies at Miami University of Ohio and her MFA in Creative Writing at the University of Notre Dame. Sami is a Cave Canem fellow and member of Women Writing for (a) Change. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in CC&D, Diverse Voices Quarterly, The Battered Suitcase and elsewhere. Currently, she is a doctoral student at Indiana University in Gender Studies.

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