Written piece
Street Dance
Busola Adebayo
Nigeria
About this piece
Street Dance is a poem about how lives weave momentarily on the street and how this mirrors our interactions with those who we share the same path with on our personal journeys.
These roads weave countless stories
Beginnings, like loose threads weaving past one another
Waiting to tangle
Endings, like a snag caused by a million butterflies
Taking one on another journey
But the stories I love the most
Are those of the dance in the middle
When we tangle on this street
As journeys intersect
At the street vendor or that narrow corner
We wave, nod, or smile at familiar faces
We pause to banter
Slow down for the elderly
And guide the kids away from speeding cars
We feature momentarily on others’ stories
And most times, the journey goes well enough
Even when the story isn’t as kind
And people stand in our way with elbows sticking out
Or the vendor treats us rudely
I shall find comfort in the stepping stones I find in the puddles
In those who yell at the cars that splash us with water
In watching everyone work to make traffic flow as it should
After a misstep shakes our rhythm
And I shall look back fondly on how we danced in this street.