Poetry Pause is the League of Canadian Poets’ daily poetry dispatch. Read “We Danced” by Laurie MacFayden.

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By Laurie MacFayden

things were brighter then, lighter then

or was it just my eyes that were 30 years brighter,

my body 30 pounds lighter?

it was the ’80s and it was the roost, the rose

the pape, the gandy dancer, flashback, heaven

all the sure-footed women

and the light-in-the-loafers men

were there

it was lacoste shirts, sperry topsiders,

and polo cologne wafting out of both bathrooms

it was signing in at the dark front door

with a fake name and $5 cover

muffins and poppers at the deli

and a burger that was not the worst in town at 2 a.m.

music has never been better

you spin me right round baby right round

slice me nice / we got the beat /

it was boy george and bronski beat and diana ross

coming out in extended play singles

it was madonna getting us into the groove

and cyndi lauper’s girls just wanting to have fun

time after time and it was the boppy wham-bam

of wake me up before you go-go

exuberant electric techno pop

somebody’s sons looking like somebody’s daughters

in high drag and haughty, naughty sequins

it was tweezed and tucked men

looking better in evening gowns than i ever would

bringing cher and barbra and dusty and tammy

into the dingy room in luscious lip-synched

glamour and glory

it was dance dance dance

pet shop boys and west end girls; sheena’s sugar walls

it was bouncy pogo mobs out on the floor

hugging the sweaty swarm with one hand

waving drinks and cigarettes in the other

it was sports girls in white tanks and black docs

swaying, swaying to the irresistible beat,

drinking heineken and tasting like pepsin chiclets

when they kissed you; a tingling in your lower belly

when they blissed you

it was the cameo on front street

tacky foil on the ceilings and toilet perennially backed up

and we didn’t care, it was the only bar we had

it was a primal thumpa thumpa

and we needed to dance

we needed to dance

we needed to dance

it was the lotus, vancouver new years eve

$25 for a cheesy DJ and cheap champagne

and it was dreadful but it was all we had

it was all we had

so we put up with the S&M nun

and the midnight beef on a bun

and then it was 2 a.m. all over again

and we staggered on to doll & penny’s

where the eggs benny were not sublime at any time

but all the queens were there,

makeup smeared and fishnets torn

and they always had a smile

or a revlon sneer

and hot breakfast with a cold beer

it was the ’80s

and it was lighter

and brighter

and. we. danced.

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Copyright © Laurie MacFayden

From Walking Through Turquoise (2017, Frontenac House).

Laurie MacFayden is an award-winning writer, visual artist and journalist who now lives in Victoria after almost four decades in Edmonton. In addition to three books of poetry published by Frontenac House, her literary work has appeared in Alberta Views, The New Quarterly, FreeFall, and DailyHaiki I, A Daily Shot of Zen; the anthologies You Look Good For Your Age and Queering The Way; and been performed in Edmonton’s Loud & Queer Cabaret, the Skirts Afire Arts festival, and Calgary’s Q the Arts cultural festival. Her short story Haircut won the Howard O’Hagan prize at the 2017 Writers Guild of Alberta literary awards. Her debut poetry collection, White Shirt, was a finalist in the 2011 Lambda Literary Awards, lesbian poetry category. She is one of eight women featured in She, The River, a 2020 film showcasing multigenerational writers whose work speaks to women’s identity, culture and resilience.

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