The Dance

I used to rhyme about boys
Dirty shirts and raised fists
Sneaky smiles hidden behind
A mother's long skirt
And a father's shrinking shadow
And when I rhymed about love
It followed me
Ready to swallow me whole
But now the confident steps
Of a man will forever hold my attention
And from this point forward
Send tingles down my spine
still I keep my distance

The fear of getting lost
Has materialized
And I realize
It is not my world anymore

I used to rhyme about love and loss
But now I dance in circles
Around everything
and hide my frustration in beauty
Continuing the echoes from years past
Years that I have long forgotten
Or deliberately remember

My only real problem is hidden
between the spaces of everything
I know

And in this way, it is invisible
To everyone but me
Flows around me, flows through me
Flows past me,
but never to me

Just the mention of its name
Gives the idea of simplicity
But only in my case

I trust the Lord
But this does not stop me from wanting
The obvious solution

Never needed a man's remedy
Suggestions and encouragement
Remind me of how alone I am
Just a strong, silent shoulder
When I need it
When I want it
Too much to ask
So I've been told

Within a complicated world
I draw simple pictures
Of clouds and smiling suns
In which I dance and dance and dance
Around trees, and flowers and everything