Inspired by Divergent

The three birds,
Watch them fly away.
From the pages of the books,
Which almost lead them astray.

The Three Birds,
Soar through the sky.
Only to arrive,
In the blink of an eye.

The Three Birds,
Now circle around a girl..
They swoop down quickly,
Then unfurl.

The Three Birds,
Now rest upon her collar.
Resembling the girl's,
Brother, Mother and Father.

They say that God lives very high;
  But if you look above the pines
You cannot see our God; and why?

And if you dig down in the mines,
  You never see Him in the gold,
Though from Him all that’s glory shines.

God is so good, He wears a fold
  Of heaven and earth across His face,
Like secrets kept, for love, untold.

But still I feel that His embrace
  Slides down by thrills, through all things made,
Through sight and sound of every place;

As if my tender mother laid
  On my shut lids her kisses’ pressure,
Half waking me at night, and said,
  “Who kissed you through the dark, dear guesser?”

He bravely went and asked her to dance,
A blush lightened up her face.
He held out his hand to lead her out,
His heart quickened in pace.

The music played a slow waltz,
He kept to the rhythm in time.
His thoughts ran away with him,
If only she was really mine.

As the music slowly halted,
He showed her back to her seat.
The thought swam around her head,
Oh my god! how sweet.

His pace quickened as he walked away,
His stature now elevated and tall.
Asking the teacher to dance with him,
Is no bother at all.

His mates all started cheering,
His triumph is now complete.
He is so darned relieved,
He didn't have two left feet.

Sheila
19/11/14

I dance,
Because I have to.

For the love of dance?
Hell no.
For the love of the examiner.

My teacher's words,
Screaming constantly into my ears.
What I was doing was wrong,
I would never get points for that.

Smile, not for the audience,
But because the examiner doesn't like
Glum faces.

Oh whatever happened,
To the true meaning of Dance?

I don't know.
It's gone,
just like my happiness,
and hopes,
of being better.

My jumps are not filled with beauty,
but sweat.
My pointe work does not look amazing;
It looks tiresome.

Is there ever going to be a day,
When exams don't matter?
No.
Never.
It will forever count
As my life.

People think I have a choice-
I don't.

I can't dance without being judged;
Heck, dancing is nothing without judgement.
Beg for mercy?
Never.
I'm not weak.

Yes, ballet, to me, is like war
Between me and my teacher,
or maybe me and everyone who thinks otherwise.

I'm nearing my Waterloo,
but I won't surrender yet.

But, maybe I have.

I have been brainwashed.
All I want now is good grades.
A distinction.

I don't love dance,
I do it for everyone else who does.

If you look closely,
You can see my tiresome face,
but soulless eyes.

No one understands,
what I’m trying to say,
so I stop trying.

Yes, I've given up.

I don't dance for myself,
I dance for the examiner.