Shall we dance?

Shall we dance?
(for my Spring 2011 MATH 280 class)

We stumble, falling from step to step, counting each one
out loud like teenage boys working out their first waltz.
We are thankful that the lights are low, and that no one but the chaperone
can see us trod on our partners’ toes.

Yet not long ago we struggled just to stand. Now we’re hovering
at the gym floor’s edge, nervous fingers tugging slack into our neckties
and fretting at the seams of strapless gowns. “Omigod he’s coming over!”
Don’t just stand there! Shall we dance?