Dancing

The room is still, I’m still spinning
Aimless but on display
Wandering crowds
Familiar but unknown
To hymns of temporal praise.

Marvin Gaye
The Foundations
Hopeful melodies, mocking me
By the lake where she planned her forever.

The first dance, a last chance
Family and friends lost and found
Others left behind
Like severed promises
Living memories better off forgotten.

Love in the air
Swarming, contagious
A sickness we live to catch
Germs only shared with those who are worthy
Of disease
Plaguing the ones
Lucky enough
To feel the symptoms.

Yet all I smell
In the dusty dance hall
The high school auditorium that finally grew up
Is the melancholy scent of wedding cake
Cut but not served
A promise, a commitment
Not broken but not yet delivered.

A single day
A few short hours
Marking the rest of our lives
A box we check
To acknowledge the gravity
Of our contract.

How can a joyous occasion
A new beginning
Seem so final?