A VILLANELLE
Dancin’ at the Whiskey A-Go-Go
She knew how to put on a show
In the good old days, a long time ago she was young and hot, a good lookin’ blonde who loved dancin’ at the Whiskey-A-Go-Go
She danced the Boogaloo and the Mashed Potato in the white go-go boots that she had donned, in the good old days, a long time ago
High up in her bird cage, she put on her show flirting with the boys, winking her “C’mon!” when she was dancin’ at the Whiskey-A-Go-Go
Her love of dance she’d never outgrow. She longed to study at La Sorbonne in the good old days, a long time ago
But tonight she looked down at the scene below, and thought, “Who will die next in Vietnam while I’m dancin’ at the Whiskey-A-Go-Go?”
“What’s wrong with this world, I want to know!” She thought of her lover, shot dead by Viet Cong in the good old days, a long time ago while she was dancin’ at the Whiskey-A-Go-Go.
It’s a true story from my early days as an Eastern Flight Attendant, based in Washington, DC, home of the formerly famous Whiskey-A-Go-Go dance club in Georgetown. Sometimes on my days off, I could earn a few shekels in tips dancing in the bird cage, as did some of my girlfriends.
It was a fun time, reminiscent of the Roaring Twenties in some ways—dancing, drinking, partying and NOT thinking about the endless war so far away, a war nobody seemed to understand, an insanity that took all our boyfriends and never let them come back.
Today, another endless war is ending, with similar disastrous results, and horrible humanitarian consequences.
And worse, the war against Climate Change is one we don’t even seem to want to fight, yet it’s the one that’s going to kill us all…
while we’re dancing at the Whiskey-A-Go-Go.
Thanks for reading! And thanks once again to ScienceDuuude and his wonderful WotWU welcome, even to our most random words.
@Adelia Ritchie August 16, 2021