The World According to Poetry #24
Join in the Dance
By Stephanie Wood Miller © 2019
Not some engraved invitation
Comes this besieged heart
Whirling, amidst chaos
I see them beyond sorrow and joy
Hope and fear
Tears streaming and collapse
Inside the union of lover and beloved
The silent come-on, an open hand
Incline of the head, languorous nod
Then backs turned, chins up, spinning
I am welcome any time
Every time
What do I withhold?
With my prudish, ‘No’
My wallflower habit
Fear of rejection
Since dancers began
I have demurred at invitations
Or expected none
Now, at last, on the cusp of the mean
I understand that there is always an invitation
That the dance floor
Is an equal partner to every Dancer
And I have only to join in,
For the darkness to depart
To fly free
And spare myself the pain
Of not joining
The dance given in my honor