Day 1: "They That Come Late to the Dance" Tennessee Williams

[druidspell]

Welcome to National Poetry Month! The plan is that I'll post a new poem every day. Here's hoping it works out. (Some of these may be repeats from last year, I'm afraid, because I don't remember what I posted last year.)


She that comes late to the dance
more wildly must dance than the rest
though the strings of the violins
are a thousand knives at her breast.

She that comes late to the dance
must dance til her shoes are thin
and the breath of the boy in the flute
is lost in the suck of the wind.

She that comes late must dance
til the lanterns smoke and expire
and the heart she uncovered too late
is broken before it could tire.

--Tennessee Williams