Journey to Ixtlan

I’ve been social dancing since 2001. I am still gripped with self-image issues. There are partners that I don’t ask to dance because I don’t think I’m good enough, they normally dance with high(er) caliber dancers, or I felt that I failed them at some time in the past. I don’t think I’m alone in this. This is the bad news. The good news is that most of this doubt vanishes when I encounter uplifting dance music. My concerns vanish as I seek something beyond a comparison to other dancers or illusionary achievements. The poem “Dancer’s Journey” is a three-part examination of this shift. The first part, Dancer’s Challenge, is an introduction to the challenges faced by a social dancer. The second part, Dancer’s Separation, speaks to the debilitating doubts. The third part, Dancer’s Union, speaks to the therapy of an ecstatic dance. The bottom line is this: dance and then dance some more. You will feel better for it.


Dancer’s Journey

Part I – Dancer’s Challenge

Indulge me while I share a tale
of doubt's firm grip on the heart.
Too often these are shared by those
who seek the dance to sooth their soul.

The social scene is inhabited
by those with skill and those without.
Comparison is natural
when differences are seen by all.

Some are near deities,
years of practice make for ease.
Others are fresh to this,
struggling to make some sense.

First I will reveal the ill,
the ego crushed by dis-ease.
This is not a pretty sight,
but it is one too often shared.

Then I will take a turn
away from the dancer's shame.
Too precious are these social steps
to learning how we all may dance.



Part II – Dancer’s Separation

They are too pretty,
too handsome to approach.
Only the best dance with them
when with mortals they do mix.

The dance deities fill the floor,
moving partners to their side.
Converts to magnificence,
I dare not ask the same to dance.

You'll see I'm inferior
to those with bless dexterity.
I stumble in delivery,
unable to match their harmony.

I dare not hold my partners close
as gods of dance dare to do.
They have a divine sanctity
while I can only share the room.

These reasons separate
myself from the dance I crave.
A deity I will never be
even as I watch them in jealousy.


Part III – Dancer’s Union

Then the music plays,
trumping my insecurities.
I dance from a higher source
as I take partner in my arms.

Proximity brings humanity
to those with divinity.
Flesh made equal as we dance
when pillars fall to humanness.

Music becomes the highest source,
the tune transcends both of us.
Motions lead from heartfelt needs
to honor these harmonies.

The lyrics are ageless guides
immune to the superior.
We are all equally asked
to follow them in the dance.

I grow aware that I too have
the spark of God in my soul.
I and they are equals now,
found the same in grace's arms.

© 2016, Sean Green. All Rights Reserved, 20160203.