Her Love, Dance

I decided to return to school one late night, way back in 2014. I think I may have been scrolling either for a job or randomly on social media, and I saw something – can’t quite recall what – that inspired me to not give up on a desire I had, even further back, in about 2000 or 2001. I was a sophomore at THE University of Alabama and struggled to pass my science and math courses as a pre-med major. I knew I loved writing and reading and desperately wanted to change my major to English. When I worked up the courage to discuss a major change with my parents, they offered nursing. I conceded and looked up the requirements, and it seemed more brutal or just as tough as pre-med. Chemistry and I did not get along, and being made aware that Physics involved just as much math as Calculus, I knew a major in the medical field, in this aspect, was not for me.

I think I might have mentioned switching to English, using the argument that a pre-med/science major was not necessary for medical school. It didn’t work. I considered minoring in English but never followed through on that thought in fear of disappointing my parents. After some other adjustments, I graduated with a degree in Early Childhood Education. God had bigger and better plans because I was born to teach. But little did I know I would not completely abandon my medical endeavors.

So, that night in 2014, I was frustrated, and something online motivated me to research online degree courses. I could not fathom working towards a 2nd Bachelor’s degree, but the recruiter I stumbled upon from Ashford University was good at his job! He had me signed up before I realized what was going on. I was incredibly proud of not abandoning this forward motion because it was a deferred dream that had unexpectedly come true. The entire process included a lot of late nights, doubts, and minor victories but concluded with me graduating Cum Laude. I was mentally prepared for the reading and the writing. But when the coursework required poetry…the poetry never crossed my mind.

In one of my classes, we were given assignments to write, I assume, various types of poetry. I don’t remember the class or the requirements, but cleaning up one day, about a week ago, I found a narrative poem I wrote:

Her Love, Dance

There once was a girl who loved to dance/Mostly ballet, some lyrical, lots of liturgical/Her sister wanted to dance and loved dance/Dance wooed her sister and won her

Basketball was short lived/Band, specifically, color guard just added to the gift/Nothing else could steer her away from her love/Not even unexpected pregnancy could distract her

Dance made her love him/They played well together/Separated only briefly, the baby needed care/But once they found each other again, magic happened

The girl who loved dance, Danced also loved her/One day, they should live happily ever after

I wrote this in honor of my younger sister because of my admiration for her dedication to her craft. Here’s her brag post!

Clearly, poetry is not my forte, however, I am kinda of proud that I was able to pull this off. I think I had this assignment in 2015, so it kinda of aged well, I guess…

I am not a poet and have never professed to be one. I remember attempting to write poetry when I was in elementary school and knew then it would not be my thing. I’m just happy I love words and can share that here!

Give love. Get love.