I was never a good dancer
so when you danced with me
I let you lead
I let you dip and twirl me
Uplift and unfurl me
And I never questioned,
never opposed

I was never a good dancer
but I wanted to dance with you
So I took classes
tap, hiphop, contemporary, ballet
years of unfinished lessons,
our own private sessions
seasons after season,
repeating your steps until I slept
at night

I was never a good dancer
but for as long as I remember
and for as long as I'll live
you can catch me trying to master
your movement, and your song
practicing and repeating and
studying and sweating and
losing sleep and losing years of
my life and losing
my Life

I was never a good dancer
but this is your dance
and sooner or later, we'll all
get it right
we'll reach our demise as we
waltz through the night
and I'll be waiting for you
on the balcony

dreaming,
praying
that you'll dance with me
that I'll get it right
even if I was never
a good dancer
the truth is
I could master it in moments
I could ask for your hand
I could end it all with one

one more step
one more dance
all I wanted
was your dance
one final pas de deux
to end the night
to end the dream
the waking illusion
of my life
of life
to send me plummeting, finished
augmented and diminished
the lift never lands
the floorboards depressed

the world comes apart
and it puts me to rest.

stagnant and still
longing for the thrash
the sort of craving that comes
from boredom, quiet, rash
delusions of suffering, and yet
the pain is true

blunt blunt poetry
no rhythm no
meaning no
language thought-through only
heart only
soul