TIME DANCER <br />for Barbara <br /> <br />When you were eight and I sixteen <br />I took you to the ballet <br />Young men were reluctant to admit <br />In the late forties they enjoyed the arts <br />Grudging peer approval was offered <br />When obliged to take a niece <br />I tried my best to look martyred. <br /> <br />What a fuss and commotion <br />As you were readied for the day <br />Both of us impatient and suffering <br />Detailed sets of instructions <br />From two mothers no less <br />We walked sedately out of sight <br />Then ran. <br /> <br />The Opera House a magic world <br />Of glittering gilt and chandeliers <br />From our seats in the Circle <br />We watched the curtain rise <br />Pineapple Poll then Petroushika <br />Followed by the Little Swans <br />How you changed as your mind went out <br />Joining the dancers on the stage. <br /> <br />Unmoving and barely breathing <br />Until the final curtain <br />No footlight could be so bright <br />As the stage struck look in your eyes <br />May we come again? You asked <br />If you really liked it, I responded <br />You smiled sweetly and took my hand <br />Then twisted my little finger. <br /> <br />In that space between <br />The thunder and the flash <br />You helped me to grow a little <br />Learning to care for another’s feelings <br />Warming me with your laughter <br />Pirouetting around me in the past <br />When you were a girl <br />And I was nearly a man.<br /><br />Thomas Golding<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/time-dancer/
