Dance, my child
Dance in the open air
Dance in the rain
In the storm, in the spring
In the torrent of the world’s madness
It feels foolish sometimes
To let yourself get carried away
To let yourself be free
To let joy grab you by the shoulders
And whisk you to the floor
Swing you round and round
Til you can’t take it no more
And you collapse in a heap at your feet
Laughing and crying, winded and beat
Carried inside is a deep sense of shame
That says you should wallow in guilt
Stare at your failures and mourn the collapse
Of all of the buildings you’ve built
Yet joy catches your eye
She doesn’t care where you’ve been
She just smiles and winks
And beckons and grins
Your failures and fears, she couldn’t care less
What she cares about is your heart
That thing you have long ignored, scared to admit
It’s in pieces, shattered apart
It turns out you don’t value much
What they want
Riches and fame
Glory to flaunt
Your heart cares instead
About love and connection
That second your eyes meet
And what’s communicated
Runs deeper than words ever will
Or the moment a series of chords swells
Progressing, with anger, with glee
No sense of relief
It renders what you thought you knew
Forgotten
All that needs to be said can be felt
Go ahead – catch joy’s eye
From across the room
Flirt a little
Let her know
You’re open
If she wants to shuffle
Swing her hips
Sway her shoulders
Tilt her head
Grab you by both hands
Pull you out on the floor
Sometimes the only thing joy waits for
Is for you to say,
“Okay.”