The Dance

Vol. 1                                                     Issue 10

The Dance*

A gentle wind gives rise to a melody unheard

Meeting the steps of the outstretched wings of a solitary hawk

Dancing an aerial waltz beneath a granite cliff

From whence eyes unseen bear witness to nature’s elegant dance.

Majesty unveiled-

Divinity revealed,

From a fleeting image painted upon a canvas

Framed within the horizons fading hue.

Oh to ride upon hawk's wings and

Hear a melody breathed into my soul;

To dance with the wind and

Delight unseen envious eyes.

Have I wings?

Can I not fly?

Must I remain in the shadows

And dream that which cannot be?

What has been sacrificed for my freedom lost?

What gain obtained from the exchange?

Or has some brigand stolen so precious a gift?

Could it be merely laid aside and forgotten?

Nay, I am bound with tethers of my own design,

Rusty chains looped over my soul and locked in place-

Bolted fast to the earth beneath my feet

Opened only with a key beyond my reach.

In the silence a faint familiar song

Mocks these chains that bind my wings

Loose them and I shall fly

And soar upon the melodious wind

                                                         Atticus (2006)

(*inspired during a hike up Moores Knob in Hanging Rock State Park. During a break sitting on a granite cliff overlooking the valley between the Park and Sauratown Mountain and  I observed a Hawk as he "danced an aerial waltz"....as to the meaning of the poem, I  leave it to the reader to interpret)