I recently finished a draft I think some members of the community might like. Feedback would be appreciated. Thanks!

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Introduction

In memory of Anthony Leach, 1965-2009

The whole thing started with Anthony Leach.

He borrowed For You from his older sister,

Without asking, I’m sure, and with no intention of returning,

And placed it on my bedroom turntable.

After the door was closed, he said, “Check this out. She loves this song.”

I examined the front and back photos of the album cover

And my first reaction was, “Man, that dude has a huge afro.”

Then the built-in speakers of the one-piece stereo crackled

When the needle hit the groove leading to “Soft and Wet.”

We knew, but not Biblically, what the song was about,

But it wasn’t the lyrics that gripped us

As the tone arm bobbed and glided across vinyl.

Instead, it was the stop-and-go, the yes-and-no,

The here-but-not-there bass,

The staccato drums, the whole syncopated vibe.

And we had to ask, “Handclaps? Are those handclaps underneath?”

Different and a bit strange.

The song froze us before releasing us

To do whatever twelve-year-old bodies could do

To the rhythm of a dance-but-don’t-dance song.

We did The Robot, our heads, arms and legs slowly jerking

In opposite directions, then pausing before jerking again.

We did dances that had not yet been invented.

We did what the music commanded,

Our voices tracking the whispery, then deeper notes.

We improvised and synchronized

In our own little world, in a new world,

In front of thousands who stood, cheered, and shouted,

Encore! Encore! Encore!

So we gave them what they wanted—

We played the dude with the huge afro

(some dude named Prince)

Over, and over, and over—

And we never stopped.