Dancing at Dawn

Dusk settles now on this old fortress,

Tipping the waves of the rolling sea

With a golden dress.

A beautiful place to be,

A wonderful place to see,

But my eyes do not behold

The beauty of the ocean.

No, I cast them to the cold

Sight of the mountains.

There the road winds,

Snaking between the trees

Before it ends here.

Long I’ve waited,

Watching with my breath baited

For a figure to come down that road.

A week it’s been, a very long week

Since her letter came,

Written carefully in code

That she would come here to seek

My company after the road.

What a relief to see her writing—

There are many dangers in her path,

Many villains whose fearsome wrath

Would destroy her all too fast.

O! Relief to see her now,

Safe and whole, shining with that tired smile

I have missed for quite a while.

Dearest friend, how happily I see you!

It’s been a time since I’ve seen your face,

And the hope of this greeting has sustained me.

Many miles I walked beneath the blue

Before I came to this special place,

This refuge by the churning sea.

Long I’ve waited for you to come—

But the waiting is now done.

In my waiting I’ve become

Somewhat bored, and in some

Desire to please you,

I have written you a song.

Do you wish to hear it?

Sorry I was so long in travel—

The Earth has many empty hearts to fill.

But here I am now, here I am with you—

Sing your song, as you wish to do.

Her hands reach out to the handless;

Her feet take her to the lame.

Who is she, this lady who came

To help and to bless

The sick, the dying, and the hopeless?

Daughter of dreams!

Her eyes look caringly upon the blind;

Her ears hear the song of the deaf.

Who is she, this enchantress whose kind

Words can bind

Her heart to the hopeless?

Daughter of dreams!

Her words have power greater than the sword;

Her arms are strong to serve.

Who is she, this warrior of the Word

Who can even unnerve the Demon?

Daughter of dreams!

Greetings, you who summoned me!

They say I have sensitive ears—

So it is that I can be

Hearing this foolish challenge of yours.

You say you can unnerve me,

The demon of all wars.

We will see if your deeds

Will match your thoughtless words.

What ghastly figure is this,

Pale, ghostly, clad in black?

O, it is none but she who loves to attack

The people I love and serve.

I always had the slightest fear

That she would come and follow me here.

It is she, the ancient one

Who stirred up wrath

Before the world was begun.

Right you are in naming me;

You always could see quite clearly

When it was I.

Many miles I’ve tracked you,

And now you’ll see it’s true

That you cannot withstand me.

Are you ready for the challenge?

I do not fear you;

I never have, indeed.

No matter how much you make me bleed,

No matter how you beat me blue,

No matter what hell you give me,

I will never, ever fear you.

Knowing this, is it not folly

To give me a challenge?

Name it now!

At dawn you must dance, daughter of dreams!

Dance an hour, or dance to your doom if you cannot—

Fail to dance and your dreams will descend into desert.

Ah, that I could dance!

So often my heart does, while my feet cannot.

So often the self I am in dreams dances,

But I cannot. So is it death for me?

Surely it is, daughter of dreams, but not now.

At dawn, we shall see.

I’ll be interested to find out where and how

You spend your time before dawn.

Will you, as all mortals do,

Get on bended knee to beg my mercy?

Or will you, perhaps, give me something else to see?

A lesson or two in dance, to try to learn

To dance before dawn’s light will burn?

I leave you now to your piteous task,

But this one thing I ask—

Do not try to escape, O daughter of dreams

Or death will come worse than this one seems.

O, do not think me such a coward

That I would balk before my fate.

I do believe in an eternal reward—

You simply cannot relate

To the confidence I have in life.

If I cannot change death’s date,

I will accept it, and its strife.

There will be no leaving, I assure you!

There will be no begging—

For that does not do justice to

The dreams that I have dreamed for you.

Do you dream for me, daughter of dreams?

Ha! Then you are more foolish than I thought.

No doubt they are bitter thoughts of my destruction,

A mortal’s defiant visions of revenge.

Once again, you understand me not;

Indeed, if I thought like you,

That would be my dream.

But your thoughts are not my thoughts;

Neither are your ways my ways.

You aspire, then, to think yourself

Above the common plane.

What high-minded, distant dream

Do you have for me?

Your tone attempts to mock me; this I know full well;

Your many barbs and bristles can quit themselves to hell.

Indeed, that is my dream:

For you to soften, to learn of love

And, learning love, enjoy my joy.

O, draw those thorns and thistles out

And you may yet be a rose!

A rose has thorns; a rose has thistles.

So much for the softness of love.

Away I go, for I do not care

To hear much more of this fine fare.

Mistake me not, however—tomorrow

I see you, in your joy or in your sorrow

And I am never late.

Till then, I leave you to contemplate your fate.

O, relief that she is gone!

But not for long—what can be done,

Daughter of dreams, to save you?

O, that I had not sung!

My fine friend of many years,

Who laughs my laughs and cries my tears,

There is nothing you can do for me.

The problem’s simple, don’t you see?

I cannot dance, not with my feet;

My soul alone dances to the music sweet.

Why not learn, then? I could teach you.

We could fill the hours from now till dawn

In lessons, and when the sun peeks through

You might just stand a chance at life.

Ha! The woman of evil already guessed

That I would make such an attempt.

The truth is—the truth—

Ah, it shames me so to say it.

What is it, and what holds you back

From telling your trusted friend?

Nothing you say could make me crack

Or do less than remain loyal to the end.

Courage!

Your words strengthen me; they always have.

The truth is that I’ve tried, tried to dance before.

I have taken lessons, but my feet are always sore

Within minutes, needing salve

To cool the burning soles.

For my feet are not fleet—

Always I trip, always I slip,

Always too clumsy from my long walks

To dance the dance of which this demon talks.

Have you walked too long today?

If you have not, perhaps your feet

Will be less sore, and so much more

Able to attempt the dance.

You know full well how long

I walked to get to this fortress.

Thank you for greeting me with song;

It made light the journey’s duress.

So tired, so very tired I am

It’s a wonder I still stand.

Surely when death comes tomorrow

It will only bring rest to the sorrow

Of walking so long to pursue my dreams

To find them cut off by this demon.

I suppose I must pursue them

In that land of no more sorrow—

I hope to meet you there.

Trust me, you will.

Well, it seems that there is still

Some time left; what can we do to fulfill

Some of those dreams now?

Ha! My dreams are impossible.

The perfect world will not come in a night

And it takes much longer to fill it with light.

That will come on the other side

Of tomorrow morning.

No, take out paper, pen and ink—

I will tell the world what I think,

How I loved them, and how I dreamed

Of their happiness.

I would do this all myself,

But my hands shake and tremble.

An excellent use of time.

Here is paper, here is pen.

Tell me everything, then

I will write it all out for you.

My dreams begin with a single word—

Love.

The secret to their joys, their sorrows—

Indeed, my desperation for tomorrow’s

Trial is caused by love.

Love? How does such a noble theme

Cause such anguish for one

So noble, so pure, a character agleam?

O, love is the sole cause of it.

Nothing I leave is worth missing

But the people I love.

The sole reason that I shove

My puny form across the land

Is out of love, that I may stand

A constant giver of compassion.

Those feet that blister and bleed

Are those that go to feed

The starving masses with love.

So you mean to say

That the reason you head to death today

Is the feet that bleed for love?

No truer words spoken,

But I do it all proudly, gladly,

As one of my dreams.

It is not all as it seems—

The pain is nothing,

The miles are inches,

And life is worth living

When all is done in love.

It is a high and holy thing,

Sent from above:

Use it wisely, use it well—

It is the greatest heaven or the greatest hell.

My dream for the world

Is love’s heaven.

Imagine, with me—and write it well—

A world perfect, where none fell

To the demon’s evil temptations.

O, the sensations

That could be known in such a world!

If each person loved truly and purely,

Then I would not have to wait till tomorrow

For passage to Heaven.

All this I have written for you.

They are strong words, brave and true,

And affect me deeply.

By my honor, these will not be lost—

I will take them near and far,

On all the roads you’ve crossed

And beyond.

I cannot change the world alone,

And neither can you beyond the grave,

But with these words of yours so brave

I can take them, and we can change it together--

Your dreams will be reality.

You have all my fealty..

I thank you for this, my faithful friend.

However, do not be disappointed

If you are not met with success.

Remember, I did this all my life

And I was met with scant but strife.

Ah, but do not let my words distress

You from this end.

I am certain the Lord will bless

Your hands in all they do.

Thank you for continuing my work.

With this task now done,

We have some time before the sun

Brings its brilliant beams.

Perhaps there are more dreams

Of yours to finish now?

There are, but I dare not say—

They must wait; I’ll find a different way

To use and pass the time.

Let us go; let us climb

To the top of this fortress of wars

To view the splendor of the stars.

They give me comfort,

Those heralds of night—

They always report

Each season with light.

They change, yet do not change.

They remind me of the range

And depth of God’s great love.

Of course, let us go—

But it puzzles me that I cannot know

These secret dreams of yours.

All others were noble, good to the world—

Would these not be as good?

I do not want your dreams to die

As you let out your dying cry.

I do not cry now;

Neither will I in death.

No, this is the time for joy,

For savoring the feeling

Of the wind while gently kneeling

On the cool stones as I wait

For you to pass this spot upon the wall;

In this night air, I feel a call

To be joyous above all.

Here is the joy I have:

To lend you a hand over this spot.

You must be tired; let me help you.

I will not allow you to be caught

Dead from exhaustion when the demon comes.

Why, thank you, faithful friend;

O that I could send

Some comfort from beyond!

But I will sleep, snug in peace

As you carry out your bond

To share my dreams.

Your touch is stronger than it seems

From first sight.

Strong only to help you this night—

Look, we are nearly there,

And we will fare

Quite well on the flatter roof.

I almost wish it were not so,

That we had a longer ways to go.

Although I do not fear

Tomorrow’s light

There is something in your touch

That reassures me much this night.

O, forgive me if such

Talk offends you!

It was merely a slip of the tongue.

No, it offends me not.

If anything, it’s a wonderful thought

To know I comfort you, as you did me

Back when we met at that yonder sea.

I see it now—the moonlit waves

Splash upon the darkened caves

Where I was walking when I found you.

I forgot the fortress showed this view

From this roof on which we sit.

How I feared for your life then,

As you lay limply on the sand,

Dripping with the churning foam

That broke upon the land.

The tide was coming in again,

And there was no knowing when

It would sweep you away.

So I did all I could do that day—

Carried you from that evil bay

To the safety of this fortress.

That day was a waking,

A waking into the taking

Of a new life for me.

I had been adrift at sea

For three days, alone and fighting

Against the waves and thrashing lightning.

Exhausted, beaten, I gave up hope

Of ever reaching the sandy shore.

I’d reached the end of my life’s rope,

Believing there was nothing more

When all was black.

I thought myself dead, but then your

Face appeared above the attack

Of weariness. You were a light,

Reminding me of life,

Forcing me to see past the night,

And to live on to the morning.

I listened as you gave the warning

Not to give up on life,

To fight the fear and the strife,

To live on and to love

No matter what.

My eyes spot yours filled with water,

Drops of moonlit silver.

Do not cry for me, the daughter

Of dreams that do not waver.

My warnings have not changed;

Though I won’t live past the morning,

You will, and that is worth it all.

Is there a higher call

Than to have given you that warning?

No, dreamer’s daughter, nothing higher.

O, I see your eyes water as well—

I do not wish to give you hell!

You merely see a crier

Because I wish to save you

As you once saved me.

For you, I’ll make my eyes go drier

To help you go happily.

It is not right for me to mourn

While you are still with me.

I am simply tired and worn

As you must be as well,

Having been through this night’s Hell.

I would not call tonight Hell,

Though it was no paradise.

I consider it just as well

That this would be a slice

Of God’s plan for my dreams.

Nothing is ever as it seems.

If you are tired, needing rest,

I understand; it is best

If you sleep.

No! I must not, I will not;

I will see you through it all.

There is so little night left

Before the demon comes to call

That I would be eternally shamed

To have left you here alone.

I would be eternally named

Coward for that deed.

No, I am alert and awake,

And ready to take

Whatever happens.

Your devotion amazes me, faithful friend,

That you would stay here to my end.

How can I repay you for this act?

Tell me, and I will bend

My will to your wish.

Far be it from me

To request anything of she

Who rescued me from the swirling sea.

All I ask is this:

If there is any unfulfilled dream,

Any last, untested bliss

That I can help you find

Before the demon comes,

Tell me, and I will help you in it.

My heart has a dream,

A long, lingering vision

Of a common thing

That many come to know,

But I have missed.

Missing it is no woe,

For it is not all that matters

In this world.

Your words puzzle me—

What is this vision,

What is this thing

That you have not known?

My footsore travels take me far and wide

But never have I had companion at my side

To give me just the simple bliss

Of but one chaste human kiss.

I cannot ask this of you,

And believe me, it would not do

Any harm to refuse me.

I have lived my life entirely free

Of such things;

I am merely curious, just curious

Of what joy it brings

That makes it the cause

Of so many songs.

Had you given me a terrible task,

It would not have been too much to ask.

Instead you compel me to do

What I have wished to do

For all too long, not knowing

That I was simply throwing

My chances away on time.

I feared it would be a crime

To hold you, to kiss you,

To ask you to be mine

For you were one special,

Dedicated to all

Those people you love,

And I would not wish to be the one

To distract you from it.

No, it would be a delight

To kiss you now, at the end of the night

Before the demon comes.

It is a risk, this kiss,

But it will be a bliss

That I do not wish to miss.

Had I known all these years

That you felt the same way about me

I would have come to be

With you, and we could have gone

Together to serve at the dawn

Of the age of dreams.

But, then again, it seems

That now is all that matters

When there is no tomorrow.

For this moment,

We will cast away our sorrow

And think nothing of the morning.

I would have wished that as well,

But those are the workings of the Hell

We call life.

May this be a moment of heaven,

Free of all our present strife.

No more darkness in this dawn,

For we will face it together.

May this kiss I now give

Find the means to help you live.

What a sacred thing this is,

For our two souls to breathe as one.

An explosion inside,

A gathering tide

Break out within me.

Look, the dawn has begun,

Casting its rays upon the sea!

How can this be our last embrace

When it is only the first?

The sun has not risen yet;

Though we have prepared for the worst,

A sudden inspiration strikes me.

Did the demon ever say

You had to dance alone today?

All she said was dance an hour,

Or I would die.

Never did she say that I

Had to do it alone.

Why?

Perhaps you cannot dance one hour

Relying on your own feet’s power,

But take my hand, rest your arm on my shoulder

And though the skies begin to smolder

I will lead you in the dance.

You need not have the fleetest feet,

Just do your very best to meet

My movements with your own.

Can you do this for an hour?

With the brightening of the sky,

I have no choice else but to die,

So I trust myself completely to you.

Look! The demon comes, it’s true,

But we might just have a chance

At this hour’s dance.

Greetings, daughter of dreams!

The sky is turning light.

The sun has cast its beams

And killed the darkened night.

I am here with the sun

To finish what had begun

At the dawn of Time.

The hour is here,

And I made it clear

That now you must dance or die.

It amuses me to see your friend

Look so defiant at your end.

What did you discover before the sky

Brightened to my coming?

Something too powerful for you to know;

Greater than sky or sea below.

You cannot kill it if you kill me

Any more than you could slay the sea.

It is Heaven; it is Hell,

But this I know full well:

You have no power over it.

Did you think by telling me

Pointless riddles of the sea

That I would relent?

No! Dance now or you will be

Just another wave sent

Across the ocean.

Hand in hand, arm on shoulder;

Your form feels so much colder

In this morning air than I knew.

Are you sure that you can do

This dance despite your tired feet?

Just an hour, and then we’ll beat

This deadly demon among us.

In truth, this dancing warms

Me in the safety of your arms.

My feet do not feel their weariness

Nor my eyes their dreariness.

This hides the demon from my sight,

Filling my dark world with light.

Perhaps it’s just my wishful thinking,

But is the demon swiftly shrinking?

I thought my eyes deceived me as well

To see this powerful denizen of Hell

Suddenly seem so powerless.

What is happening to this joyless

Creature of the deep?

Mock me not, you foul beings

For what you have done to me.

Did you not know your weapon stings

More strongly than urchins of the sea?

I cannot stand this awful force

You two created today.

Leave me, leave I say!

What about us disturbs you so

That is any different from what you know?

Nothing was changed, nothing created

Only my deepest fears were abated

By the incredible forces of love.

That is what I cannot stand—

Before, you were just one,

Just one soldier on the land

Who dared to love and had to run

All over to spread your awful dreams.

Now you are two, a team of two,

A force mightier than what it seems

Against this force, what can I do?

I have no power here, and without my power

I have no choice but to cower

And turn swiftly to the desolate dust.

Piteous creature, what kind of life

Do you know, where all is strife

And there is no joy in love?

Your legendary powers make you seem strong,

But when the time stretches out so long

And time tells its tale,

Love will always prevail.

I say this not to mock you,

Daughter of darkness,

But to help you come to see

All the things that you can be

If you simply let go

Of your unearthly powers.

No--I cannot take it!

This slavery of years--

I cannot break it!

So I realize all my fears,

Breathing in the scent of triumph,

Just to have it snatched away.

By living and dancing this day

You have now killed me.

I quit myself to the thrashing sea!

O, I weep that she dies!

But is joy or sadness the cause of my cries?

Thus end my dreams for her,

But my dreams for you and I

Become as limitless as the sky.

Daughter of dreams,

As she cast herself out,

Let us cast out our fears.

There has been enough of that,

Enough time of tears.

Now, let us rejoice!

Let us join together in one voice

As we become a team,

Joined together in your dream

Of a perfect world.

The sun brings its brilliant light,

Driving away the hideous night

And the trials of dawn.

Now, let us be drawn

Together in it.

Lord above, I am truly blessed

For now both my heart and my feet

Can dance in service of You.

Since You have saved me, given me rest

What else can I do?

God Almighty, send us into the dawn—

Make us Your warriors; make us strong.

Forever now we will be drawn

To You as we sing a brand new song

Of victory! Victory in You;

Victory to know that this is true—

That we can dance, dance for You.