Well, his full name is Bruce Thomas. The location is Weaver Street Market, a hang-out for the town folks of Carrboro and people of Chapel Hill come here as well. There is the co-op market and the lawn where they have tables and often there is music provided by bands. Families come with their kids, or individuals come. It’s where you go if you live in Carrboro. In March, the Independent Weekly, our local, weekly paper did a story that is available online here. So, while I sat there at a table outside, I wrote this.

Footloose Bruce

I saw Footloose Bruce
at Weaver Street Market,
a local hangout for our town.
He sat alone… walked across the lawn alone.

I read about him in the local paper recently,
an occasional curiosity,
most of the time,
I see him here,
alone.

No one notices him today -
there’s no music.
He seems invisible and purposeless,
this evening,
but maybe he feels something
I cannot feel -
carefree to just be,
always in the spirit and flow
of life’s rhythms,
like the tai chi
that is a part of his dance
when the music plays.

I wonder if he comes here
to make a connection
or just to look for some motion
and to become a part of the motion.
He dances with the kids
on the lawn but it still seems
to me, that he is dancing alone.

There will be more music here,
and Footloose Bruce will remain famous
as he dances
alone.