Saturday Night Retrospective

He was unto a Golden God 
at a time when everyone sought High Vibes
At a time when America was fun. 
When I was too young to understand the
naughty 
raunchy
bawdiness of it all,
but old enough to be there.
Old enough to witness the gyrating, 
the laughter, the sweatiness, the tight pant,
the way
everyone
               glistened.

Then America - that America 

was confident, boisterous 
revelling in polyester pants. 
And this beautiful man:
he was It. he was All.
he was a spinning top 
beautiful supernova.
The best part of being an American male.
A movie icon.
He embodied in one dance an entire feel-good summer for a generation. 
And now when he flickers onto my screen
I wonder 
“where did all that go?”
Corporations got greedy 
the people were needy.
That boy is older now, and he too, 
can see, 
the loss of that time.
When America, on a Saturday night,
was everything 
Running around and looking good
Feeling good and being free.
A time when you could sparkle without fear to weigh you down 
A time when Saturday night was for showing off
For laughing too hard and coming home late 
He reminds me
When Saturday night was for dancing.