Mercy Tolentino Steenwyk

“What twirling and dancing feet can carry the years
Gone by. The tears that woke the taste of day.

What clink and glitter of spirits against the tavern light
Can cheer us collectively. The triumphs of many lifetimes
The sound and glee tinged with echoes of sudden sadness
Sudden exhilaration. Explained and unexplained.

What swaying and reverberations of songs of long ago
Wake up the loves of people and things, of places
Frozen in the mind.

This joy, this celebration, this time, these sounds
Are what we keep in our clenched fist in the
Deepest curve of our palm.

Locked with a knowing smile, wisened by the passing
Time. Of reckoning. Without reason. Made stronger by the
Dark and bright, the tossing, the crushing, the bright thrills
Again and again until a symphony of great music Is born.

And our clenched fists, waves, the murmurings
And incantations of time take on our dancing feet
The clink and glimmer of spirits cheer all without
Question, without reason. The sum of our joyous time.

Until when the untrained ear hears the perfect harmony
Floating nowhere in the suddenness. Without question.

What twirling and dancing feet can carry the years
Gone by. The tears that woke the taste of day.”