Borrowed Ballrooms

It’s bizarre
Stumbling into a waltz
Mid-song, mid-step,
Uninvited with all your faults:
Clumsy toes, lack of rhythm,
Ignorance of the dance,
Rote outdated maneuvers,
Misplaced stances
While all the other dance partners
Know each other, know their moves.
They laugh at you as you trip by:
The tongue that cannot find the groove.
Sometimes it stings, and you weep.
Some days you shuffle on numb.
It isn’t their fault
You’re the sore thumb
The left foot.
But on the off chance
You may find the music,
There’s nothing else to do but dance

Alone, offbeat, the best you can muster.