New Year Poetry | The Dance by Bruce Hanna

The Dance

Let us give thanks for our shared dance.

Thanks that this is a dance hall of spirits and lives;
That real people with hopes and fears, anger and joy,
All the contradictory confusion that is our lives—
Are welcomed back here when the music starts.

Thanks that although we hear the same beat and melody,
We move each in our own way to the feelings within;
Or moving together would be more like a march than a dance.

Thanks that when we bump into other dancers,
And step on our partners’ toes –
Most of the time they keep dancing,
Accepting our flaws with a nod or a smile.

Thanks that many who seem only to watch,
May appreciate the music and be dancing inside –
Moving to subtle pleasures in their own quiet way.

Thanks that our dance is not a contest with one winner,
Right vs. Wrong, Good vs. Bad.
Rather, it is
An expression of spirit shared by all who feel the music.

For this let us give thanks.

May 7, 2000 Bruce Hanna