The Dance

I entered this dream, knowing its end.

I entered this dream, seeing each bend.

I walked along the path knowingly with you,

Hoping what I felt, saw, and knew to be true.

I walked this path with you, journeying far,

Hoping to travel by sea, by air, and by car.

Occasionally, we would ride the bumpy train,

Eventually hoping to be sailing across a smooth plain.

Suddenly we veered along different roads,

Our temperaments falter, while our fear shows.

We each hoped the other knew how we felt about love,

Even though we could not feel through the leather glove.

At last, we have come to far to see

That where we stand we cannot return,

We cannot relight the dimly lit wick,

Nor can we hope that love will do the trick.

We put on our separate masks to dance,

Along our own road, engrossed in a trance.

We move away from the faltering firelight,

As our dance moves off, into the twilight.

November 2001, Published by Poetry.com (c. 2008?)