The Last Dance

When trouble sits in worry’s kettle
and scattered thoughts refuse to settle
we fold our days into tomorrow
and look at time as blood to borrow

Our parts are portions of the sum
we suck the pit out of the plum
and press its truth into our tongue

We swim around each other’s silence
refuse the gift of self-reliance
then wear the badge of our defiance

We stretch our souls on to a drum
We beat it bare until it’s numb
then grind our smiles to the gum
to the nervous laughter of everyone

We paint the stars on to our eyes
We sing sad songs and lullabies
We crack the door, let in the light
to wrestle darkness from the night

We sit across from our despair
It smiles back, without a care
We let it in, we close the door
We dance above the kitchen floor


Geoffrey Reilly is a skilled, passionate, and collaborative information designer and writer with over 30 years of experience in the software industry.  He lives in Warren, RI with his wife Meg and their dog, Pepsi.

In his spare time, he writes essays, poetry, and (every now and then) short stories.

You can find his creative endeavors on his blog site, Bending the Needle – Truth Hurts and on his personal website.


If you would like to have your work published in The Poetry Bar send your poem, a few words about yourself and the link to your blog and Instagram account to the e-mail poetrybar1@gmail.com

Leave a Reply

%d bloggers like this:
search previous next tag category expand menu location phone mail time cart zoom edit close