This is the beginning of a series called “Couples,” a topic that intrigues me, based on observations.

1. Tanglewood,
one evening in July, 2006****

© 7/02

He had that Hollywood look;

the tan, the lined, outdoor face that said, “maybe I’m an actor.” 

In fact, he reminded me of Patrick Swayze, in Dirty Dancing;

He wore a tight tee shirt

that was slightly faded in color, like army drabs,

but on closer inspection I could see

that there was a pattern of swirls of blues and greens and mottled browns,

like marble. 

He bent his dark and silver head of tousled-hair toward the woman

with the medium length blond, wavy hair. 

She was youthful, slim, toned. 

His wife. Or his lover.

Maybe in her 50’s. 

She could have been his “Frances ‘Baby’ Houseman”¹ years

after they met in the Catskills

and he transformed her innocence

by teaching her the dance moves;

lifted her over his head so she could soar,

arms extended

after she ran

and leaped into his waiting arms.

But now

that image sat tamed, 5 rows ahead of me at Tanglewood²,

(a far cry from the New York State hotels in the Catskills³

where the children of Jewish, Irish, Italian and German immigrants

fled to forget the oppressive city heat)

the night that Seiji Okawa conducted Mahler.

She couldn’t see, so she moved several seats over and

claimed an empty place at the end of the row

to better inhale  the baton, the breeze,

the notes. 

Their separation was like a

smiling mouth with missing teeth.

Almost shocking after having been so close,

they were apart with seats gaping empty between them yet

they were still connected by music.

After the passion of each movement ebbed and flowed

and washed over them, she moved back to his side and sat

but then stood and clapped,

and clapped, with her tanned hands and toned arms, and clapped.

Then sat, next to him, through the third round of bows.

I could see their heads move together,

they exchanged a word

as the stage light illuminated their hair

like halos,

then pulled apart to make room

for her left hand,

the back of which

gently ran

up and down

his cheek.

1. a character in the movie, “Dirty Dancing;” a young      woman who fell for Patrick Swaze’s character—he taught her the dance moves
2. Tanglewood-place in Massachusetts where summer      concerts are held
3. The Catskill Mountains was where “Dirty Dancing”      took place. It is a resort area of hotels that are active in the summer      and were very popular in the 40’s -70’s

Tanglewood music festival: inside concert hall, or enjoy the music from the lawn. The grounds are huge, beautiful and lush, but once in the parking lot with millions of cars, one never escapes–at least not for an hour.
Lenox, Massachusetts.

Gustav Mahler from symphony no. 2 The Resurrection
****
From the parallel universe of Yahoo

most couples complete each other or contrast otherwise, or are neutral, togeyjer they teem up against all odds, and so thoughfully you have constructed a poetic theme to work on it, the blog is so romantic, adding a new variant streak to the image i had built of you in my mind–thanx for the share