“May I Have This Dance?”

a sestina

I.

It was the coldest night of all the year

For us to come and choose to dance

Snowflakes settle upon the lashes of my eyes

As I open the door to the grand (ball)room

Music and laughter greet me, feather-light

I know that this is where it all begin(s)

II.

Strangers, bold behind their masks, make the choice to dance

They spin across the crowded room

Drenched in dreams as the night begins

Lost in romance, forgetting the year

Intoxicating—; I could not miss the light

Emanating from the depths of their lovers' eyes

III.

So I take a moment, breathe it in, only to begin

To lose my breath as I meet your eyes

Staring me down 'cross the reams of light

The music stops. For the first time this year

I cannot move; I cannot speak—my heart, it starts to dance

As willing feet carry me across the room

IV.

The air is sweet; love permeates the room

Upon our shoulders, endless possibilities dance

A sensation so foreign; so strange; oh, the stories it will begin

I cannot resist the spark; the flame it will soon (a)light

This is what I have waited to feel all these year(s)

And I know that I am falling, lost in deep brown eyes

V.

We move together in the truest of dance(s)

My head spins as you dip me back; seeing the upside-down room

And I am alive for the first time with brightest eyes

The music slows, and I can feel the electricity begin

We seal the moment with a touch, searing like fireworks’ light

Winter's kiss is no longer the only one that I received this year

VI.

I read the yet unwritten stories dancing in your eyes

They criss-cross the Earth; go far beyond this room

As the clock strikes midnight to end the year

There is one more adventure that will now begin

I find myself breathless; captivated by the (star)light

We are forever changed by a single, fierce dance

VII.

The year comes to a close, yet our story now begins—

We will dance with the world as our (ball)room,

Guided by (star)light—and as for the music? It’s in your eyes