Dancing Dreams

DREAMS

He climbs,
He climbs his mountain,
His mountain of stairs.

Weary mind,
Tired heart,
Frail body.

He rests, continues, finishes.
He sits, panting.
He dreams.

Two carefree children run through the farm,
Him running ahead, her holding his arm.
They run through the field where grow the foxgloves,
He looks in her eyes, overflowing with love.
They swim in the river; they dance through the moor,
But now he just sits, a shell of before.

He weeps,
He weeps for love lost
Love lost to death.

Crying mind,
Heavy heart,
Shaking body.

He cries, sobs, shakes.
He dries his eyes.
He dreams.

A whirl of cloth, and a blur of feet,
They chassé, they twirl, never offbeat.
He hears the applause from way up above,
He looks into her eyes, overflowing with love.
They spin, and they whirl, and they dance round the floor,
But now he just sits: a shell of before.

He thinks,
He thinks of her,
Of her when they were young.

Her quick mind,
Loyal heart,
Dancing body.

She stares from her frame, young, laughing, carefree.
He stares from his seat, old, sad, depleted.
He dreams.

Now they grow older, the evening has come,
For it is to illness that she has succumbed.
She lies on the bed, face white as a dove,
He looks at her eyes, overflowing with love.
He sits by her side, still confident and sure,
But now he just sits, a shell of before.


He drifts,
He drifts away,
Away from life.

Blank mind,
Still heart,
Limp body.

He falls, he exhales, he whispers her name.
She answers, calling, he follows.
They don’t need to dream.

A flicker of movement, a blurring of feet,
They dance on forever, their lives now complete.
She looks up at his eyes; he looks down from above,
Their expressions a mirror, overflowing with love.
Their feet move so fast that they don’t touch the floor,
And he keeps on dancing, just as before.