Love's Dance

i am slowly learning
that indeed
when we love
and are loved
(or hope to be)
we engage our selves
in a dance.

sometimes
the music is a long, slow introduction;
sometimes
it rushes right into an aria!

but we must learn
to move to whatever music is playing--
chacha, swing, rumba, tango or waltz--
even as we learn
to take each other's hand
and slowly come closer
even if we must
also necessarily
draw apart
many times, like the first few times.

no matter how much
we want to be loved back
in the exact way we want
people can only give
so much--
that they have,
that they have received before,
that they know,
that they have been trained to know--

and it is almost always
NEVER
a reflection
on our innate lovability
but on their innate capacity
or willingness,
or readiness
to love us back
in the way that they know how.

so in this dance,
i am learning
to play it by ear
to take only as they're able
to give,
to take their baby steps anyway
and learn to synchronize
even as i teach
my own baby steps back.

so what if the music ends?

now i know
there will always be
other music to play;
and with each new dance,
whether with the same
or a new partner,
we always become
better dancers
than ever.

that is Love's gift to us;
that is our gift to each other,
this dance we dance.