CROSSING THE BAR

           


    Again she sits
        examining her feet.
    This not-so-youthful dancer
        sees each role now go
            to younger girls.
                And in her soul she knows,
                    though wise, still strong,
                        she can't compete.
     "How many dances left?"
        Can she expend enough
            when pain's too great
                to just dismiss,
            (as we the cough or spot or chill)
                 "Is this the starting of
                        the starting of the end?"
    But dare she stop?
        Not only left behind to watch
            the parts she did or didn't,
                doomed to envy,
    more she fears
        she'll be consumed,
            re-dancing all her dances
                in her mind.
    Just so I toss my journal,
            glare and think
                 "I bet my rhythm's off!
                    My feet must stink!"

Reviews

[J. Hampton]

How I could relate to this...I had a dance troop for years...after dancing on the darkside in my past..and choreographed & danced as well
haven't danced in maybe 7 yrs
It kills one to sit on the sidelies ...of our craft

The formatting of this piece....creates the same crmble and humbling effect as the words therein..
a very real quiet retreat we must all face to one extent or another.

Bravo...Emily sent this ...glad she did...
made me wince a bit

Blessssssssssss

[Debra Stevens Edwards (..]

This is such an entertaining piece and the last line is classic.
Hugs Debby

[Just Manoosh]

So many undertones, how many dances do any of us have left?

We all look back on our memories, perhaps we should forget them and just make more ..... in a different way.

A great write honey.
Mx

[Brenda Sue]

Very well written and I loved the twist at the end. Wonderfully penned. Great job.

[Siddartha Beth Pierce]

Great write - touching for sure with a wry sense of humor in the end. Touches on all that we hope to accomplish and how we sometimes feel we will not do so in the end. Crosses many barriers or bars so to speak. Well done. Thank you.
Light,
Siddartha

[Kara Emily Krantz]

this is touching, and definitely captures the mind of the aging dancer well

" re-dancing all her dances
in her mind."

i think of this ...sometimes, when i think about how i haven't been acting lately, and this is my youth... there are amazing parts on the stage that i'll never be able to get once i age.

you really touched upon that so well. the loss of a love, is what it is.

hugs

[Caitbabie008]

I like how you wrote it. made it all curvery. very good write! :)

[Touché Armada]

Thanking Em... And thanking you.. It really amazes me how many men get inside women's heads.. Or at least do a very good job trying to... This was a brilliant write on a common vulnerability so many women feel, not so much the performance but just to be required at all. Bravo.

[Jenny Davis]

Heh, this is bright and light...just like life...I enjoyed reading this :)
(Thanks to Emily for sending)

[Emily B]

A stirring portrait. This should be read. It's a shame to see no reviews.