She’d dance like no one was watching
although she liked to think he was.
A week of ‘Work & Toil’ is best followed by a weekend of ‘Song & Dance’. Was it Chigley (or Camberwick Green or Trumpton) that had the 6 o’clock whistle and at the end of the day all the workers from the biscuit factory would come out into the town square and dance?
Turn the music up, in your head you sound like Jagger, throw some shapes and dance like there’s no one watching – but hope that someone is, because it’s best if they join in!
‘She’d Dance’ by Brian Bilston
She’d dance like no one was watching
although she liked to think he was.
The kitchen was her grand ballroom;
her partner was a mop.
She’d foxtrot among the pots and pans,
she’d paso doble to the sink,
and as she swept across the floor,
her mind danced, too. She’d think
of how he’d held her in his arms
at the Locarno and the Ritz –
whirling, waltzing, a world apart –
in the years before the kids,
and longer still before the shadow
the doctor spotted on his lungs.
How dazzlingly they had danced!
How dizzyingly she had spun!
Her neighbours saw her sometimes,
shuffling bent-backed to the shops.
But at home, she’d dance like no one was watching
although she liked to think he was.
Seek out more of Brian’s beautiful, funny and poignant poetry in this collection here.
Summer reading is ramping up, so the paperback offering this week is plentiful! There’s introspective, politically-charged fiction from Garth Greenwell, powerful voices abound with Abi Dare, and jazz to accompany the cooler evenings with Mai Sennaar. In non-fiction, Olia Hercules recounts Ukrainian history through four generations, while we take a tour de France with Pippa Young and get ahead of the chill with beautiful wool creations for little ones! For children, A Home for Spark the Dragon and Robin Hood are tales of empathy and belonging with the most dazzling illustrations.
As always, if there’s anything you need, just pop by or reply to this email!
From Sophie
Feeling curious? Click on the book covers below to explore the book.
The full newsletter with links to books – including this week’s Signed Editions – can be found HERE
