I lean against the carpeted column
Twisting my bracelet around my wrist
And watching silently

The music is loud enough
To shatter the eardrums
Of a deaf man

The colored lights
Streak through the darkness
Like lasers or falling stars

People jump wildly
To the even wilder beat
Of musicless songs

I lean against the carpeted column
Twisting my bracelet around my wrist
And watching silently

The tempo slows from its wild beat
Morphing into something as slow and steady
As a beating heart

A sugary voice pours from the speakers
Like a glowing river
Of toxic waste

The song draws people in
The same way white shirts
Draw stains

I lean against the carpeted column
Twisting my bracelet around my wrist
And watching silently

She pulls him to the dance floor
Pulling him toward her, laughing
While two friends dance

Another guy looks scared, like he wants to run
Her face is red, but not with embarrassment
Neither would change a thing about their first dance

Another couple holds each other close,
Turning in steady circles
To the beat of their song

I lean against the carpeted column
Twisting my bracelet around my wrist
And watching silently

The music carries me away
Back to another slow song,
And onto the dance floor

Hands wrap around my waist
Pulling me closer
As we dance

Eyes meeting mine
Full of light brighter than
The flashes of color around us

I lean against the carpeted column
Twisting my bracelet around my wrist
And watching silently

The song ends,
Morphing back into
Another crazed frenzy

The jarring rhythm breaks the spell
And brings me back to this dance
Right here, right now

Standing in shadow,
Afraid to dance,
And lost in memory

I lean against the carpeted column
Twisting my bracelet around my wrist
And watching silently