Her Dance With Fear – A Parable
Once upon a time
A long, long time ago
A little girl was born
As the moon began to glow
Her pink cheeks looking chubby
Her fingers wrapped around
Her mothers finger tightly
In this new world life-ward bound
In the cot laid next to hers
A tiny little boy
Looked around and gave a cry
His mother standing by
The mother’s started getting on
Feeling wonder, pressure, awe
They realised that they did live
Not far away at all
And so the babies growing up
Were never very far
They learnt to play, they learnt to fall
Together they did all
The little girl would try to stand
The boy would hold her hand
Trusting one another so
That each would be their ‘can’
The little boy was known as Fear
She loved him as he was
For together they would take
Chances, choices, trust
When the tots were big enough
When the music played along
They learnt to dance to any tune
They danced to every song
It didn’t matter what the ditty
They laughed and learnt to fall
Holding hands and spinning round
They danced from every dawn
Soon they learnt to dance in time
And practiced for to show
Anyone who would sit down
And watch them dancing so
They learnt to waltz, They learnt to jive
They learnt ballet, tango, tap
Rehearsing every minute given
Until their breath ran out
As they grew up they took to share
Their love of dance with pride
Taking stages around the world
Standing side by side
Then one day, a fateful turn
Left her crying out in pain
She looked at Fear and scorned and spat
Her life about to change
Left alone to rest and heal
She was envious to see
That Fear still danced with great aplomb
Leaving her with anger be
When he came to visit her
She wouldn’t let him in
Pretending that she wasn’t there
Busy recovering
He tried to call, he tried to sway
Her mind to dance again
But her mind was making up
Excuses to be given
Then one day he didn’t call
He didn’t stop on by
And that night she cried and cried
Wondering she didn’t try
As time went by
Their different paths
Grew wider and apart
But she knew down deep inside
That Fear was in her heart
She watched him as he took great risks
With others dancing round
Standing at the sidelines she
Hid in the background
Following his every move
Her envy, pride and danger
Grew inside her more and more
As she bottled up her anger
She withdrew from life, from what she loved
Her face and body wrangled
With regrets that left her living
Without hope and blaming every angle
Then one day, knocked on her door
A woman with a letter
She said that it was from her son
And hoped to make her better
She opened up the paper note
To see what had been written
And in it took her breath away
A photograph was present
She stared into the face of Fear
And noticed by his side
Was a little girl holding his hand
Smiling, happy and with pride
The tears rolled down her cheeks as she
Realised the truth
That Fear had kept her safe and filled
With courage, passion, hope
When Fear had been allowed to be
Her constant friend and partner
There was nothing that she could not do
Her life filled with joy and laughter
Whilst Fear had flown around the world
Dancing in every land
She had wasted precious time
When she could have held his hand
She looked into his mother’s face
And asked where he could be found
The mother’s sad and forlorn words
Were hard to understand
She thought about the time she’d lost
And never get to face
Her fondest memories of Fear
Were now all she had in place
She knew her love of Fear was such
That she could no longer live
With regrets and anger so
She sought to dance and give
Her life again to dance and sway
With the photograph at rest
Dancing right next to heart
In the pocket on her breast
She took it out at every chance
To remember and to say
“I love you and you’ll always be
My Fear for whom I’ll dance”
If these words have stirred something ready to move, She Is Powerful — the Empowerment collection on The Path — may be your next step. Written for women who are done playing small.
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