they dance, they shake
they remember my name
they know me by my eyes
and my compassionate smile
they sing, they tremble
and I watch them move
in fits and starts
in painstaking ways
unable to control the bodies
they once masterfully owned
they wait, they pray
that one day it might leave them
the ache to regain
their stillness again
I hear them, I feel them
in my heart
and it reminds me
of my own mortality
as I see my fragile self
in them
eager, yet unsure
knowing, but unsteady
it stirs something in all of us
when we see such a thing
the sight of humanity on the brink
faltering tremors
in my soul
as it wakes, as it realizes
how both unlucky and lucky I am
to be who I am
to hold still
and to feel the poise in my feet,
in my body,
in the body that one day will break
as easy as theirs
in time…
only in time…
but, until then,
with them
I dance and I shake
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