The Water Dance
( 1970-1974)
by
Francis Donald Grabau

0.

the water that dreams  lays quiet and still
and dreams   the dreams of the water
that runs  the runs of the dream water that flows and falls
and can't get back up. the fall of the man who danced the water thru the music that runs
the dreams   the end of the notes that hang
off the legs   like claws   like claws that call
out from the water  that wrap around the legs of the dance of
the dreamer of water  where it goes
where it goes to end
where it wants to go
the hole

the dancer who danced the hole
thru the music   thru the music of the water that folds
that folds as it falls   that falls
thru the face of the dreamer of the dance
to the legs   to the legs of the hole
down
down
thru the legs that wrap around the hole
the hole that is the heart
the heart that is the dream of water that falls
quiet and still thru the hole of the heart.
 

1.

there was a man made all out of water
just half   -  half a man
made all out of water
and this man had a fire in his head    and strings like
wires that carried the fires
down
to his arms and his legs where he danced.   and
with his tongue.

he went around and around thru the hole in the dance
he asked the wind  and the fish that watched him to tell him his name and they
would say    your name is
the water or
the dance or
your name is the dance of the water with the fire thru its head.   then
a knot
would form itself in his arms and his legs
he would twist
and fall to the ground.  sound
would pour from his mouth    the moon
would rise and its strange cold light would
congeal where its shadow moved into the water

and it would stop.

2.

green
was the color of the water or
purple or blue
and the man's name was doppelgänger and he was
lost
like the water of the dream of dance thru the hole

but he could cut the strings and stop
the movement of the water  and when he did that he would sit in
a great invisible flower that was magic and was
square
in the center of his head  or the ground
the sound
would come out of the air to him    the fire
would burn his tongue with the same question
what is your name
and is your name purple or
blue
who
are you

rhythm
i am rhythm
he would say   and move his legs
left    his
eyes would turn the color of green
we are rhythm he would say
and we move     but that's only
because of the bone.

3.

the bone came from the bottom of the water
it was bleached   white    by the pour and fall of the water   it was
shaped like a hook     it led the dance.

doppelgänger
called it the bone of the dance of water
it
hooked
the strings of the body.

doppelgänger
loved his bone
almost as much as he hated it     he would sit and sit and
study it
alone at night he'd talk to it

bone
white bone
hard bone
hook
caught in the fire
firebone
thru the air   bone
full of water
curious
ugly
 green bone
beautiful black bone
bone.

until they'd both disappear.

4.

in the dark
under the mountains
doppelgänger
grabs the legs of the water and lays his face
in the dirt.  you know it's the skyhook he sucks on   he sucks and fondles it
and the sticky  quiet ocean  that is love    the hot
taste of the hook in the head   all
the nerves pull tight   the body
arcs
and out squirts the love juice  the water   doppelgänger
eats at the heart of the hole and can't get in   he knows his face is stolen from the other
one
the dancer   the deep and
purple fool
the blue hermit who holds himself inward
and between his teeth
breaks
the bone of any song the blood can sing   the bone that digs
holes thru the hook   the teeth
the pain of your mouth
full of its hole
the ocean the
dream

5.

you look for yourself
fishes
loose as the eye
turn in their shells   salt
taste of the touch of fire cracks thru your skull and you see
me
doppelgänger

i am the face that grows thin under your look
the hook that snags between your
teeth your legs
the pain that you can never hold the moon
stop the water

you feel
how deep the fishes look for themselves

6.

 so you decide to join the dance   grab
a wave from the waters   prop
yourself up    show me
your posture  but
that movement's rigid.  i see the wires
how your tongue  your feet are
 empty as my own as
the moon's as
the green purple of the black bone's white water of blue
as the lack of music for the dance  and the rhythm that
the doll who once broke said
we both have  as the man
made all out of water   as all the other
pieces

7.

only in the water can you dance
your legs blossom
fish
 brown roots curl around you and you float
 let the soft flow of the song carry you thru the hole of water
to the dream
the dance full of the lull of feeling
the slow dissolve of the bone   down to the green
bottom
where the hermit sits
cutting strings that rise out of the fire
the fire that's the heart
the heart where you sing   where you dance
where you feel filled
full of the hole of the heart

8.

don't
go near the deep end
the bone
comes up then
  sucks you under     stones
wrap around your legs   pull you under
  you float in holes
caught in the fall of all
that breathes

  can't find your feet   turn to
feel yourself dancing your bones
deep below the water     hearts pumping
beats where sleep awakes
doppelgängers
 moving shadow waves    blood tides

 some kind of raw love muscle
twitches
 memory where love murmurs
always
and fire flows like cryptic talk
from the wet and burning bone
down thru the star that is the dream of light
falling quiet and still thru the hole dark in the deep of every dancer's feet.
 

Video images from
THE WATER DANCE

Multi-Media Performance
Center For Music, Drama, and Art,
Lake Placid, New York
1974
All Photographs
by
Virginia E. Brown & Barbara Kristaponis

Water Dance Drawing
by
Francis D. Grabau