Unknown Rhythm

She holds a secret but her smile flashes white
against the darkness and her skin. I grab her hand

in friendship and teach her to dance. We waltz and
Charleston under the African stars. A haunting

presence resides within her dark eyes but I don’t see it.
Her hands rub roughly in my uncalloused palms.

Black against the white. We’re girls dancing
and the giggling vibrates across the dirt path

into the treetops. We prance along the uneven dimpled road.
The banana trees encircle us.

My thongs squish a dusty passion fruit into the earth.
The juice squishes over my toes

and her bright teeth flash at my squeals.
Her pink shirt pulls tightly and suggests womanly curves.

A brown dirt stain blurs around her as she spins.
She holds a secret that I can’t understand.

Her flowered skirt spreads and twirls.
She steps her native dance away from me.

She sways to an unknown rhythm. “Sarah, God bless you”
I yell. But she is gone. Back into the moonlight.