This Dance

We will dance this dance together

Till our hearts beat to one time,

As we brush against each other

And our fingers intertwine;

Then the music calls us outward,

And we turn and twirl away,

Turning back towards each other

At the ending of the day.

This was never in our planning

All these steps we are compelled

Yet they come from deep within us

From our hidden selves upwelled;

There’s a song that won’t be silenced,

There’s a hush that must be heard,

There’s a power in the whisper

Of the heart-defining word.

So I bring to you this courage,

Torn and tattered though it be

All the grace that I can gather

From the ragged shreds of me.

They will weave and they will waver

For a wind is blowing through

Lending strength that feels like flying

As I stumble back to you.

For all love is nine-tenths courage

In the daring to let go

Of our fortressed self-protection,

The defences that we know:

To step out into the wildness

Of the music and the wind

And this dance the only compass

To the mercy we must find.

………………………………………………