Poem - Joy of Circumstance

“Joy of Circumstance” is a poem about the ability of social dance to transcend boundaries. I count as friends people who I truly would not have otherwise.


Joy of Circumstance

I’d never know them in the day
division normal so many ways
count them if you’d like to know
why dance is magic when people meet
encounter on the floor’s space
one of many with shared intent
to move the body to the tunes
when the music sets the mood.

Culture is a history’s path
defined for the person in their tribe
the outsider will never see
the breath of what came before
instead of this the lyrics ask
attention turned to rhythm’s form
legacy of a ten thousand plays
now common to the two of us.

Religion brings God to men
stating rights and wrongs for those
meant to follow a certain path
adherent to the holy fiats
yet the elated finds their way
to join one to another celebrate
movement found in eon’s thoughts
ecstatic glee found in the dual.

Generations ask their due
at decade boundaries reconciled
in divisions from here to there
stating factions based on the years
while bodies move to the notes
glee is found between eras
allied moves with no contempt
for differences marked by tree rings.

The end result is joy’s exclaim
as two are one against the odds
of culture’s hold, religious creed
the turn of the wheel moving forth
a world too large is resolved
as different people mediate
away from things that separate
and towards the joy of circumstance.

2016, Sean Green. All Rights Reserved, 20161016.