and the dance will keep coming back

       to my fellow dancers, 

      Tuesday Dancing, Stanford

each of us an open vein from where the lifeblood

pours between the walls
slips up the ceiling
and drips to the heavens 

to feed the stars and moon tonight

oh the dance the dance

    doubting and       unbounded
    exposed                     and embraced
    alone            and together

feet and hands gripping gravity in 

the balance
and the off-balance
our   bodies  making  the    windows    applaud

and  the wallpaper   blush
            but we do not care 

our toes chart new maps over the floor
our hips pulse swaying hallelujahs into the walls
our hearts leap beyond the ends of our bodies

even though something splutters and fumbles and 

falls and trips 
something gets loosed
something gets stripped
something gets clear

that is why i keep coming back - 

to leap without calculation

and to land with exaltation

          when the dance comes to an end
         we lift our heads
            and     see      our       souls      spreadeagled
        under the full moon

oh let us kiss our earth

let us kiss our limbs
and the dance will keep coming back