Nightclub Corners

She's a different woman here under
Flashing lights and shudder-sound;
She bounces with the floor,
And she wouldn't notice the world
Unless the bass stopped
And the dizzy-dizzy husk
Of sparkle smoky air
In the backstreet basement club
With no name stills and is washed away
Until the sun pours in through the walls.
She's got a vacant smile when she isn't
Yelling out lyrics even she can't hear
And how does she know she speaks at all?
She's in her own land even when she dances
With the other men and women and smiles
Into their slick faces - her eyes are elsewhere
In a world that shudders to her heartbeat.
The drums set out arrhythmia; the music
Will kill her in the end. Her ribs shake
And she ignores it all and focuses only
On the music, shudder-shake and pressing in
To block ghostly fingers in her eardrums
And push until they pop.
She doesn't drink, she doesn't hit,
She dances sober, straight, settled in;
She's off without assistance, away without help,
And she's beautiful but only watch
Unless you know she exists outside the clubs,
For we have never seen her there before.
Watch and wonder, sit and stare, but ultimately
Find another girl to taste the lips and feel the curves
Sweat-slick from the dance floor. She wouldn't notice
And wouldn't care then. Her world is here
Dancing dizzy down to dawn,
She smiles and sings
But she's never coming home.