It is an uneasy dance
But a lifelong one,
This eternal pas de deux
In which neither leads nor follows.
This is who I am.
I have seen
Fireflies in a summer twilight,
The auroras in a winter midnight,
The stars in a new moon—
Light cannot exist
Without the dark—
The shadow of me,
My partner.
But I hear what people say of her.
I know what they think of darkness—
That this dance ought to be saccharinely happy,
That anything otherwise ought to be
Cleansed,
Purged,
Excised—
NO.
She is a part of me
And we move together,
A spellbinding dance
In which both flourish.
We both take a step,
We both turn—
I in my delicate grace,
She in her raw, unapologetic finesse—
Or is it the other way around?
One never knows,
And likely never will.
This dance with my shadow,
Of darkness and light—
This is who I am.
It does not make me depressed.
It does not make me creepy.
It is my balance,
The moon to my sun...
And when the curtain falls,
We will both bow,
And leave side by side,
Still dancing...