At Centennial Olympic Park

0000000000000Let us watch them dance, baby bro
0000000000000Your little black body nestled
0000000000000In my side, like a small seal,
0000000000000The fountain water raining all ‘round us
0000000000000Confetti from a piñata

Thoom- thoom, thoom
Drums beat on naked skins
As they twirl on the watery pavement
Raindrops splashing in slow motion
Over their black, white, yellow, and tan bodies
Syncopation

0000000000000Thoom-thoom, thoom
0000000000000Two claps and again they go
0000000000000Through the five interlocking rings,
0000000000000Fountains shooting into heaven, fists pumping through skies,
0000000000000Droplets cascading across waiting tongues

Thoom-thoom, thoom
Do you feel the earth dancing,
Her wide hips grooving?
She gathers in her mighty arms
The wet, crescent footprints shaped like broken souls
Strewn across the pavement.

0000000000000Each stomp breaks away
0000000000000A chain
0000000000000Each leap unshackles
0000000000000A limb

0000000000000Don’t be scared! My arm is around you.
0000000000000In your face, I see my own.
0000000000000These droplets on your bare brown back
0000000000000Are quivering, not crying.
0000000000000Open your eyes, baby bro,
0000000000000The world is dancing.

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Shalini Ramachandran, age 18
Lilburn, Georgia
Parkview High School
Teacher: Mary Lynn Huie