Dance Practice

Every morning in the sports park,

behind the men's room,

under the open trees and sky,

an old Chinese couple

practice their line dance lesson;

she next to him,

side by side but not touching,

their steps so perfectly matched,

I hear the count in my head:

one, two, three and four;

over and over,

their movement in such synchrony,

that in the quiet sounds of morning

the neighbor's power saw

biting into wood

the killdeer calling to her children

their dance so measured,

I hear the music playing.