This poem is about a boy, who is probably in middle school, that slow dances for the first time. He is at a school dance and is really nervous about dancing with her. He worries that she will think he is a terrible dancer, and he tries his best to prove that he isn’t. The boy seems to be somewhat of a nerd. He gets his mother to give him advice on dancing, he’s a stalker, and he’s got a bad haircut. He begins to tremble as the two slow dance.
The boy is surprised that he is even given the opportunity to dance with such a girl. You can infer that she is probably one of the more beautiful and popular girls at the school by the way he describes her. He thought she would be dancing somewhere with a boy more “clever smoother dreamier” than himself. The boy goes home in a state of ecstasy, and goes to sleep running the moment over and over in his head.
“The Best Slow Dancer” reminds me of my first ever slow dance. I can remember being in my middle school gym which was decked out with lights and decorations. Like the boy in the poem, there were teachers lined up against the walls to make sure we acted appropriately. Like the reader I too was quite nervous. I can remember hoping that I would not step on his feet or he step on mine (I didn’t have on any shoes) or do anything to mess up. To my surprise, everything went smoothly. I didn’t think too much of slow dancing, I would much rather dance to an upbeat song with a bunch of my friends.