Dancing with Time

And so I began my dance with time,
Learning to listen with my inner ear
To a music that was uniquely mine
To a music that only I could hear

Learning to control my reluctant feet,
Knowing when to step, when not to step,
Learning to stay in sync with the beat,
Learning the secrets of measured breath

And from that dance, I moved on to words
And as I listened, I heard them speak
In a language that sounded like birds
Singing at dawn - each separate, unique-

I learned their songs, I studied the stone
I became a root and traveled deeply
into the earth, I saw the ancient bones
Buried in the subterranean archeology

I became the leaves scattered by the wind
I became the river, the rain-
I became fire, the flame, and the thin
Strand of smoke and the ashen remains-

I became the stoical mountain
Alone and aloof, capped with snow-
I became the ledge, the hidden cave within-
I looked down at the small world below

And when I returned, I knew I had changed-
Was I still a man? – Was I still human?
What of me was different? What was the same?
My blood boiled with with endless questions.

The creative process demands obscurity,
But no man should strive to create alone
Once he has achieved its mastery
Once he has set the pace and the tone.

And so I began my dance with time,
Learning to listen with my inner ear
To a music that was uniquely mine
To a music that only I could hear.