Perfect Match

Perfect Match
by Linda Hoffman Kimball

He wasn’t much of a conversationalist.
Not a quick wit. Not the brightest bulb.
Short for a guy – just my height.
Not so much skinny as wiry.
A nice guy. Just a very nice guy.
But oh – with his hand on my back,
On the dance floor with basketball hoops and slick blond floors.
Oh.
The slightest shift of pulse,
The nuance of his finger tip
and I would follow with a sigh,
spin out with a flair,
curl in to his tight a-tempo embrace
– in step, in time,
(and somehow, for the length of the tune)
in love.


It’s been a long time since I thought about this fellow. But tonight, watching Donnie Osmond win Dancing with the Stars,
my mind turned to church dances in cultural halls outside of Boston. I’m no natural dancer (even with my fondness for Jazzercise) but this particular guy was proof that if a guy knows how to lead, magic can happen even for the clumsiest partner. He was really something. Oh my.