The Dancing Poet

Teri Conrad

A211-001 Chambers

Exercise 1

January 18, 2010

 The Dancing Poet 

“In poetry, there is no telling the dancer from the dance.”- W.B. Yeats

In dance, there is no telling the petry from the dancer.
 Express as you stretch.

In the dancer, there is no telling the poetry from the dance.
Become a moving work of art.

There is no telling the dancer, that in poetry there is no dance.
The words step to form rhymes within the lines that leap right off of the page.

 There is no telling in the poetry whether the dancer makes the dance or if the dances makes the dancer. Must we bend and flex into new genres? Does life’s body restrict us?

In dance, there is poetry.
Ideas flow and the dancer freestyles, scribbles, and whirls into motion.

There is no dancing or poetry without one to execute it.
The paper, then pen, the prints of the foot, the racing of the heart are all in the heat of battle.

It can all break: a leg, a mind, a dream. Take the time to create while you still can.
It can all mend.
It can be redeemed. Keep your sanity. Don’t let the rush overcome you.

Own it but still let the craft embrace you.
Feeding the urge is healthy.
Release.
Break the mold. Aim high. Jump high.     

There will always be an audience for the dancer and the poet.
Which one will we watch on the stage?
The poet breaks the ground with unheard of words.
The dancer is an open book,  a vision.