And There Was Dancing -

The band was tuning,

The crowd was waiting,

To take advantage of the moment or to

Quickly step aside.

It’s always like this,

Some hesitating,

Some all too eager to display themselves,

Some trying just to hide.

I felt unguarded,

A bit unsteady.

There are two kinds of people in the world and

I’m the other kind.

The music started,

And some were ready,

The only way to miss the tension was to

Be both deaf and blind.

And there was dancing,

And there was singing,

And there was magic in the air between two

People who’d just met

And there was laughter,

And gentle clinging,

And there was everything I wanted but could

Never hope to get

And there was style,

And there was fashion,

And there were all too many years of practice

Moving to that beat

And there was romance,

And there was passion,

And there was me along the sidelines with my

Shabby self-esteem and two left feet.

She was amazing,

Such graceful motion.

I wondered what would her reaction be if

He should miss a step.

He was fantastic.

I had the notion

That he would not take it so kindly if

She wasn’t so adept.

And all around them

Were other dancers,

Some concentrating on their own moves and

Some trying to cut in

And on the sidelines

We stood and watched them,

Wishing we could go and join them, with no

Clue how to begin.

And then it ended,

All too abruptly,

The dancers all looked disappointed but at

Last they left the floor

The music started,

This time more slowly,

And with a little hesitation first one

Couple then some more

All started dancing,

It wasn’t graceful,

Maybe not poetry in motion but at

Least a trembling verse.

It wasn’t stylish,

It wasn’t tasteful,

But it had all of the emotion that gets

Lost when you rehearse.

Then I felt someone

Tap on my shoulder,

And I turned to see her smiling,

Shyly holding out her hand.

This was my moment

For being bolder,

So I said, «I am only watching and I

Hope you understand

We’re not all dancing,

We’re not all singing,

But there are times we move our feet a bit

And maybe hum the tune.

Some are performing,

Some are benchwarming,

Some people must be social butterflies, some

Stay in their cocoon

And, while I thank you,

I am not dancing,

Maybe some other time we’ll have a turn but

I’ll sit this one out."

But she kept smiling,

And sat beside me,

She said, «Sometimes you take a break to keep it

Special, that’s what dancing’s all about --»