Kerfe Roig is the Poet of the Week for the W3 Weekly Poetry Prompt #93.
Kerfe’s prompt guidelines
Thematic(required): Write a poem inspired by-
1. A song about dancing, or-
2. A song you like to dance to;
Form (required): “San san”.
San San?
The “san san” poetic form has three requirements:
1. Eight lines;
2. Rhyming: a-b-c-a-b-d-c-d;
3. Repetition: Three terms or images in the verse must be repeated 3x each.
I chose the song Dancing on the Ceiling by Lionel Richie as the inspiration for my san-san poem.
We Danced on the Ceiling
We danced anywhere,
Anytime, anyplace; we’d tap dance on a table,
A swift sweaty jeté through the door with a slow waltz up the wall,
A quick Hip-hop on the floor and American jazz it on a chair.
Dancing in any cool space available (even a stable),
All night long we rocked it with feeling,
Hitting the roof, having a ball!
And we danced in the sky and raved on the ceiling.
Lesley Scoble, February 2024
Notes
Once upon a time, I had the good fortune to dance with Mr. Richie. I was a professional dancer and danced with him to the strains of Three Times a Lady on an early Granada TV show, (Producer Muriel Young). I’ve loved him ever since.
Some years hence, my son met him at an event and reminded him he’d danced with his mum!
My sketch shows me reunited with Lionel Richie, enjoying a dance on the ceiling together. I’m wearing the dress similar to the one I wore when I danced with him on TV. It was a long satin dress. (If I had danced on the ceiling wearing this slippery frock, it would take no time at all for any mystery I might possess to disappear, leaving nothing for the imagination).
Dancing On The Ceiling By Lionel Richie
Dancing on the Ceiling is the title track to Lionel Richie 1986 album and third studio recording. It charted in the U.S. but also saw massive success in Sweden, Norway, and Belgium.
The lyrics describe a wild house party. The guests are having so much fun it feels like they’re dancing up the walls and upside down on the ceiling.
It was a clever video for its time. They used a revolving set to shoot the dancing on the walls and the ceiling.
San san = Three three
San is the Chinese for three. San-san means three-three. The poetry form is a poem of eight lines with a poetry rhyme scheme of a, b, c, a, b, d, c, d. The three-three poem must include three images or metaphors three x three.
Good things come in threes!
We are away from London on a week’s break, staying in a rented cottage by the sea. The cottage door number is three. Inside there are many objects to remind us of this door number plate. I snapped some of them on my iPhone as I feel all these 3s fit in with the san-san poetry form theme. Good things come in threes!
Even the holiday reading comes in stacks of three.
The internet connection isn’t the best in the cottage and I’m struggling to post this post. I’ll never take fast internet for granted again! I may have to go in search of a pub with wi-Fi. There are three pubs in the village. If you are reading this before the prompt deadline, it means I found one with wi-Fi. Cheers!
The cottage may not have fast internet, but it’s got a nice view.
My thanks to Kerfe for her interesting and entertaining prompt. My thanks as always to David, The Skeptics Kaddish for his motivation and constant encouragement.
Lesley lives in the City of London Square Mile. An artist, actor and sculptor (her first ceramic sculpture won the V&A inspired by… Award). Scenic artist & book illustrator, playwright (her musical play, Rapscallion performed in inner city schools and theatre school); TV dancer; Animator and illustrator for TV production. Set up Pinecone Studios Ltd and IIMSI Ltd drama and filmmaking workshops in London – producing award-winning films made by children.
LesleyScoble.com 
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