The Dance

Her dress - yellow and orange

Fiery dawn, a cloudless sunrise

Breaking through my rainy night

Such beauty a blue ribbon prize

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I had a moment

A moment of existential clarity

Outside myself, experienced vicariously

A perfect instant, beauteous in rarity

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Her smile a beacon for the storm-tossed

A lighthouse beckoning the way to shore

Where a lost, lonely sailor could find refuge

Her gaze balm for my wounded core

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Across the room our eyes met

For one single eternal instant

I felt a painful tug in my mortal soul

Begging me come, be not hesitant

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Her gaze moved on

I felt the loss, my heart bereft

If I did not learn her name

My universe would in twain be cleft

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My feet moved me of their own accord

Across to where this goddess stood

My feet were smarter than me

For twas a journey leading to all things good

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All these years later I look back

Wonder why she accepted my invitation to dance

Especially since I trod clumsily on her toes

Every time the tempo advanced

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Despite a couple lessons I still can't dance

But 40 years later it doesn't really matter

I'll always gladly take a twirl

With my wife who still makes my heart patter