The potential, the kinetic

I seem to remember some sort of
hazy snippet of memory from
some junior high school science class somewhere:
that there are two forms of energy,
the potential, which is the energy being stored up,
and the kinetic, which is the energy in action.

And when I asked her what she did
she said she was a dance therapist
which of course intrigued me
and confused me
just like she intrigued me
and confused me

and so of course I asked her out

And she sat at the table and had nothing to drink
and explained dance therapy to me
which apparantly revolves around the concept of
kineticism,
of energy in action.
Of the idea that there are literal, physical ways
that one can put one's body parts
so that they align with or against one another
to produce
actual,
tangible,
specific,
emotional reactions.

Which, of course, I thought was complete new age bullshit.

And she sat there
and still had nothing to drink
and took her glasses off
and put them back on
and took them back off
and put them back on
and she talked about the energy inherent in a physical action
before the action is perpetrated,
the potential energy behind every action we take
so I invite her back to my place.

And when she leaned back on the couch,
leaned back and casually brushed her shoulder with mine
and turned her face so that it was full on to mine,
that's when I knew to kiss her.
And when I looked up
and she was straddling me
her shirt off
her left leg squished between the cushions of my couch
her right leg straight out against the floor, supporting her weight,
that's when I knew to ask her to spend the night.

Somewhere, I think junior high it was, they told me about energy:
the potential, which is the energy being stored up;
and the kinetic, which is the energy in action.

I told her that she looked like one of those old
Nazi propaganda photographs
taken during the 1936 Olympics,
photos taken by mad geniuses
to prove the physical superiority
and purity of the Aryan race.
When she leaned over me
with her clothes off
and that 1920's haircut of hers
draped into my face,
like a flapper gone insane,
she looked like the perfect
Hitlerarian ideal.

I meant it as a compliment.

And we moved in tandem that night
our bodies literally danced as one
Every time I curved my arm
she knew the exact and precise counterpoint
that would perfectly
elegantly
precisely
compliment my action.
Every time our hips would mutually thrust
they would be in exact
and machinelike
patterns
timed precisely to
always
meet
together
at each others' upthrusts
We moved with a synchronicity
that usually takes me years of practice
to learn with a lover
We would wait for each other
She would lie beneath me
her face buried in my elbow
sweating
frowning
lie completely still
for thirty seconds
sixty seconds
ninety seconds
waiting for that next thrust from behind
that she knew was coming
and I would wait
those thirty seconds
those sixty seconds
those ninety seconds
before thrusting again
because that is what old, familiar lovers do
they build the tension
they let the potential build
and build
and build
and suddenly let the kinetic explode
without warning
and it was a transcendental experience for me
I was filled with joy
and with awe
and with reverence
I felt like I had met a past life lover
I felt like I could do no wrong
I felt like I had met my soulmate
I fucking saw God that night
and I'm a fucking atheist!

And we lied in bed
and she pushed her toes against mine
apologizing profusely for their coldness
and I laid my fingers on her back
and I told her
what I just told you
about the past life lover
about doing no wrong
about my soulmate
and she said,
"Yes."
"That's what I do."
"Like I said."
"That's kineticism."
"That's what I do."

Somewhere, sometime, I think in junior high it was, I was told about energy:
The potential, which is energy being stored;
and the kinetic, which is energy in action.
I'm not a skeptic anymore.

Copyright 1997, Jason Pettus. All rights reserved.