Poems - Dancing
‘Time for our ballroom dance’ by Michael J H Messanio
Long ago, I remember my days as a youth,
Then I remember the rest were spent with you,
Honestly, I can now say it’s been a pleasure.
Just to know you has been my dream.
My dear lady, will you dance with me?
Instead of looking at me with that funny glance,
Please let your hair down,
It is time for our ballroom dance.
We had danced the dance of love,
We were brought together for the perfect end,
We were lost within the magic
We were lost in each other’s glance
As we danced one last time.
‘We Danced Through Life’ by Bernard Colasurdo
We danced amongst the stars that night
when joy had fallen far from sight,
We danced under the sun so bright
And when all seemed lost, we held on tight.
We danced to the music of hummingbirds
And we danced in the silence when there were no words.
We danced in the shadows of fear and doubt
And we danced when we questioned what life’s about.
We danced amongst the evergreens
That posed for painters winter scenes.
We danced in the winter’s bitter chill
And when we danced our world stood still.
For that’s what love was meant to be
To find the dance when we cannot see.
To write a new song when the music stops
With lyrics that caress every tear that drops.
For when the rhythm changes and tempo slowed
We’re called to dance with the seeds we sowed.
For life is hard, there is no doubt
But Dancing through it, is what life’s about.
'She danced' by Brian Bilston
She’d dance like no one was watching
although she liked to think he was.
The kitchen was her grand ballroom,
her partner was a mop.
She’d foxtrot among the pots and pans,
she’d paso doble to the sink,
and as she swept across the floor,
her mind danced, too. She’d think
of how he’d held her in his arms
at the Locarno and the Ritz -
whirling, waltzing, a world apart -
in the years before the kids,
and longer still before the shadow
the doctor spotted on his lungs.
How dazzlingly they had danced!
How dizzyingly she had spun!
Her neighbours saw her sometimes,
shuffling bent-backed to the shops.
But at home, she’d dance like no one was watching
although she liked to think he was.
Dance of Life adapted by Celebrant Christine Riley Moger
We all enter the dance of life when we are born. We take to the floor and those already dancing stretch out a hand to us and teach us the steps and we start to move. Sometimes making small steps, feeling self-conscious and awkward, at other times making grand gestures and sweeping moves. As we dance around the floor, we reach out to new dancers. They may be the awkward and tread on our toes, or hold us too tightly, but if we are lucky, we find the partner who dances to the same time and we keep them for life. Some dance for many years, some only days, and all of us, as our time comes to its end, eventually, in death, we leave the floor as the music goes quiet for us. But all around us, the dance goes on as others try out their first, tentative steps.
Dance of Life adapted by Humanist Celebrant Maggie Platts
Life is like a grand circle dance: we step into the circle when we are born and those already dancing stretch out a hand to us and teach us the steps. We, as we grow, reach out to new dancers and draw them into the circle. Some of us are really nifty dancers and some, perhaps, clumsy, but all have something to take and all have something to give. A few light up the dance with their skill, others simply keep the circle going. Some dance for many years, some only days, and all of us, as our time comes to an end, step out of the circle - and the dance goes on.