Charles Fort American Bandstand

Charles Fort

American Bandstand

It's got a good beat and you can dance to it.

You live near the ocean and sea coves and use your long and weary arms to steady your hands as you paddle in a call for mermaids to rise and sing Motown, country, and rock 'n roll in your thin canoe into narrow passages andcaves usingahandmade fishingnet capturing gold coins spinning to earth.

You live landlocked in a large city wearing hush puppies to church and Beatle boots to the school dance matching a short boy with a tall girl.

You hold subway tickets for a slow ride looking for a phone booth at each stop into the undertow of the underworld. You saw the excommunicated angel on your windowsill playing the banjo.

You live in the green, blue, smoky mountains in a small town wearing pat n’ leather tap shoes at the school prom with the homecoming queen who learned to square dance on the playground slide rule, homemaking, or industrial arts. You walk to school, alone, your transistor radio: Roll Over Beethoven. I Can’t Stop Loving You. Your typing teacher stood in front of the class and hit the keys like he was playing a saxophone.