The Dance

In the dance hall
One can see two lines

Here, by the banquet tables
The compromisers

There, by the stone doors
The unyielding

Note how the first group stands at ease
Well fed
And listen to them speak

But do not forget the second company
Lean, solitary
Who stand in silence


In this world
Of shadow and sunlight

You will always find them

The children of the flexible
Who dance, and make merry

On the graves of the rigid
Who died fulfilling

Oaths of protection