The One I Love

*It can only be Olé Guapa that
was played when Bill Door took
Miss Flitworth through the steps
of a tango at the harvest dance

‘The predatory stance, arms clasped
ahead of them like the bowsprit of a
killer galleon, turning in a flurry of limbs
defying normal anatomy before
the angular advance back’*

I danced the tango this morning, trying
that predatory stance, then the sadness
of the long drawn-out violin notes before
the accordion takes up the aggressive
introductory theme again

Castanets rumbling in my head, military
heels clicking, I visualised an eighteen-
year old Renata Flitworth in the diamond-
studded black dress she got from Death,
felt the adrenaline

Dancing a tango with Death who took her
to her young bridegroom so she could be
with him forever, a life well lived, a heart
warm and caring, she offered her lifetime
to save a young girl

Death, delighted, borrowed her time to
defy the rules of the auditors and repaid
her by eternal togetherness – I love this
story, the only worthwhile dream is to be
with the one I love…

Reaper Man – Terry Pratchett, Gollancz, 1991
Quote taken from p.243*
*