THE DANCER

*** I wrote this song after binge lisstenig to Simon and Garfunkle, particularly 'The Boxer".

THE DANCER

I was still a girl

When I went into the world

Leaving my family far behind

Disillusioned with the poverty and all the anger there

I went looking for a better life somewhere

Not sure what I'd find

Found a job and a room to rent

That is as far as my luck went

For I had no one to hold me when I cried--

Men like youth and vulnerability

They buy them, ply them insensitively

But for a moment loneliness subsides

The solitary struggle of those empty years

Marked me with streaks of  bitter, burning tears

But I also built a spine of steel

And a wall around so I wouldn't feel

Saved my money and carved a life

Without the paucity and strife

Yet still I yearned for an unnamed dream

The heart wants what it wants it seems

And it won't rest until it's found--

When we met it was a windy day

He was damaged, too, in a different way

But my heart rooted in that ground

If this were myth or fairy tale

We'd have formed a bond that would never fail

But true life is messier than dreams
While together, he eased my soul

His love  made my spirit whole--

But nothing lasts forever, so it seems

Walls came down and my spine relaxed

Visited family, repaired some cracks
They'll be there if I stop by again ...

Now I no longer crave revenge

And this isn't where my story ends
There is a light beyond the pain

In the studio stands a dancer

At one with the chorus line

And with her dance the specters

Of every dance in time

They swirl around and move her

And soothe her restless mind

Carrying away the loneliness

Suffered by her kind