Mindpoke dance

A man stood next to me last night in the midsts of a dance - we were in truth using the hand basins in the lavatories at a London dance venue.  I shall call him Dave. "How long have you been dancing?" "6 years I think" I replied "Me too, great innit" "Yes, I..." He interrupts "Saved my life, was gonna top myself, this stopped me, turned me round" I turn to face him, he continued "Was ready to put a gun in mouth, really down" "Remarkable" I said "Dancin' saved my life" He carried on..I listened intently as this complete stranger told me the bare bones of his story.  I told him mine, an inadequate quid pro quo but his point resonants not with mine but with a sentiment I hold dear that there's something about music and moving to that music which short circuits the minds of troubled people.  It is a direct attack on the brain's neurochemistry in which so many people find relief...

i wrote the other day about a friend of mine who's gone.  people read those words and, some knowing much and others knowing little, drew conclusions and some appreciated them.  i said i had to write them 'cos sometimes that's all you can do. Some people drew breath, others found more disquiet.  One aired his dis-ease with a common sense balancing that there are two sides to this story.  In fact there are more, but as i type i'm thinking of one particular person. There are times when you pinch yourself: when life throws a blinding hand.  So it was one Southport dance when i danced with a woman of grace, elegance and humour for the first time after many months of marvelling at her dancing.  She smiled at my nerves, she tolerated my mistakes and she moved as if she were a blossom dancing in the lightest breeze.  She and i danced more over time to my astonishment she would ask me to dance: i got less nervous and she maintained her tolerance and encouragi...

a friend of mine has gone, he has died and he has gone.  its hard to believe. i feel sick - not sad - but sick in my guts. it was horrible and it still is. i have a vivid memory of his handshake and his smile on the 28th of december 2011, and a chat about the state of the world and the music that night and the dancing and the overcrowding. we laughed, we were wise and slightly patrician. we were having a good time.... and then someone took me away to dance and so that's the last we spoke, me and Rob. i saw him leave and i waved and i think he waved back and i think he was wearing a hat and i said bye....now you know..... i'm not sure. the mind is cruel like that. like dozens of his friends i didn't get the chance to say goodbye properly. how could i? i didn't know he was going and I don't know if he knew. once a few years before i sat down on the deck of hms president, permanently moored on the side of the thames in london and a man who later i came to k...