Esalen

I remember a big room
some central lodge perhaps
empty 
a song playing loudly
and not just any song
a song of exquisite joy
Tom Petty's
American Girl

Barely thinking
I step into the song
and I dance

I dance with my long blonde hair flying
l dance like a dervish from a veiled lifetime
I dance with abandon because I'm 22 and want to kill myself
and who cares if I'm foolish
if I don't have to remember it

I dance because I worship music
I dance because I'm a prayer in motion
I dance because I feel like it, dammit
and I'm so sick of editing myself
and feeling like I need permission
that I despise needing
for every god damned thing I do

by the time I step out of the song
I'm as light as magic

a woman
a ghost?
twice my age
is wide eyed

Oh my god
she whispers
her voice tinged with soft pink wonder

That was beautiful!