And There Was Dancing

The band was tuning, The crowd was waiting, To take advantage of the moment or to Quickly step aside. It's always like this, Some hesitating, Some all too eager to display themselves, Some trying just to hide. I felt unguarded, A bit unsteady. There are two kinds of people in the world and I'm the other kind. The music started, And some were ready, The only way to miss the tension was to Be both deaf and blind. And there was dancing, And there was singing, And there was magic in the air between two People who'd just met And there was laughter, And gentle clinging, And there was everything I wanted but could Never hope to get And there was style, And there was fashion, And there were all too many years of practice Moving to that beat And there was romance, And there was passion, And there was me along the sidelines with my Shabby self-esteem and two left feet. She was amazing, Such graceful motion. I wondered what would her reaction be if He should miss a step. He was fantastic. I had the notion That he would not take it so kindly if She wasn't so adept. And all around them Were other dancers, Some concentrating on their own moves and Some trying to cut in And on the sidelines We stood and watched them, Wishing we could go and join them, with no Clue how to begin. And then it ended, All too abruptly, The dancers all looked disappointed but at Last they left the floor The music started, This time more slowly, And with a little hesitation first one Couple then some more All started dancing, It wasn't graceful, Maybe not poetry in motion but at Least a trembling verse. It wasn't stylish, It wasn't tasteful, But it had all of the emotion that gets Lost when you rehearse. Then I felt someone Tap on my shoulder, And I turned to see her smiling, Shyly holding out her hand. This was my moment For being bolder, So I said, "I am only watching and I Hope you understand We're not all dancing, We're not all singing, But there are times we move our feet a bit And maybe hum the tune. Some are performing, Some are benchwarming, Some people must be social butterflies, some Stay in their cocoon And, while I thank you, I am not dancing, Maybe some other time we'll have a turn but I'll sit this one out." But she kept smiling, And sat beside me, She said, "Sometimes you take a break to keep it Special, that's what dancing's all about --"