Welcome to Claus Ankersen!

Danish poet and world traveler Claus Ankersen continues the 1940s contest and the series of contributions from writers whose work appeared in Resurrection of a Sunflower.   Tonight I only wish that we could dance Hurricane Harvey away, but for now let's dance!

Let's dance - A bilingual Bowie tribute

Let's Dance

To the song they're playing on the radio

Let's Dance the world into existence

Come and dance with the lords of life

Come and break my heart in two

Let's dance you and me

Dance and you can be me

I am that I am

motionless in time

a blooming flower of pure night lit by the serious moonlight

Come and sit on the hands of a boy named Underwood

breathe visions of acid and tears

as gods of the underworld enters the labyrinth – What have we here? A little boy!

smashing open the eye, rendering the world

hetero-chrome

blue

and black

Let's Dance, little China Girl

In a bar full of men

tell me what happened, when?

Stranger than snow falling up

from below

will you ever find your home, again?

Tap into your own spinal tap dance, mister underwood of everyday life

Tap into the mysteries of the great hall of mirrors

look into my eyes

and fly

Soar thou across the lands of man and break through illusion

shine under the moonlight

bask in the stardust

Dance, magician

Dance, man

Walk the tightrope and walk the path between that which shall be and that which you Will

Walk between the fairy realms of the Thin White Duke

and the Black Fat Cat

Dream your world into existence

to the song they are playing on the radio

if you say hi, the universe will say hi

So dance, little china girl and fly into my eye

see the wonders from the beam of a saxophone tone

be velvet under the serious moonlight

Hold my hand and Let's dance

I am that I am

Motion in timelessness

Ain soph aur

oneness manifest in multiplicity

magical destiny masking as coincidence

a sudden synchronicity of meaning

right here

where we dance

and dance the world into existence

For we all dance

and as we dance, the gods tremble

knowing full well that even in changed settings

the result will remain

# Intermezzo #

England 1962

A boy named George Underwood gets into a fight and punch another boy

straight in the eye. He wars a ring, and hits the boy in his left eye

forever changing his destiny

That boy is called David Robert Jones

In the instant he is hit by the ring, he transmutate

his yin seperate from his yang

and reconnects

spinning

his third eye opens as his physical vision blurs

and he is cast down into purgatory

re-emerging

re-born

a razorsharp cosmo-cutting shaman, with a spirit name of a hunting knife

He takes off, spreading his wings of music

flying into the serious moonlight

remembering forever nothing

but the here-and-now

knowing nothing but the serenity of I am that I am

Lets say that he was born, instead

in rural Denmark

Lets say the boy was named

David Bovig

Lets say he got into a fight over a girl in school

with a redhaired boy called Carsten Nielsen

who punched his one eye polycoloured

The result would have been the same

cause we dance the dance of life and the world remains

forever changing

forever the same

So come on

and lets dance

Da jeg første gang hørte Let's Dance

i 1983

for kun 26 år siden

var jeg naturligvis fuldstændig den samme

som i dag

selvom jeg gik i røde sko, orange gulerodsbukser fra UFO

stribet kjortel fra den indiske butik

spraglet tørklæde og sort baret

var jeg den samme

åh, ja, jeg var den samme

og mine sko var så røde

det var ecco sko

og de kunne danse gennem verden

og et uendeligt slaraffenland af eventyr og fantasi

de kunne danse lige ud af klasseværelset på de solstråler der faldt ind

gennem vinduerne

og lige ind i vidunderet

og det gjorde de, mens jeg sad og glanede ud i luften

og det gør de stadig

to the song they're playing on the radio

det er en gammel aftale vi har

Bowie og jeg

for når man har sagt A

må man også sige B

og har man sagt Ankersen

må man sige Bowie

no pun intended

just fun intended

motionless in time

timeless in motion

we are that we are

from the kingdom to the crown

cause all my love for you

should break my heart in two

if you should fall into my arms

trembling like a flower

# Intermezzo END #

Thus spoke Siddharta and the sages

Thus spoke the rod of Moses

Thus it shall be written

Thus it shall be sung

Thus it shall be said

and thus it shall be done

Look into my eyes

Look into your eyes

And Dance

CLAUS ANKERSEN

Interestingly, Claus told me that this poem has also appeared in a Ukrainian translation!

This version of "Let's Dance" features Stevie Ray Vaughn:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEn3BPsXTbU

I'll also include "Modern Love": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hDbpF4Mvkw

I remember dancing to "Under Pressure" back in the day: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoDh_gHDvkk

Mustn't forget "Dancing in the Street" with Bowie and Jagger: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9G4jnaznUoQ

This is a repeat of "Let's Dance," but the video is very cool and very global.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4d7Wp9kKjA