the rightness of who one can be

of dance and life

growing up is an effort

no matter how good the parenting, 

or the school, 

or the friends,

the way up and forward

demands cusp of choice after choice,

and thus it’s all an adventure,







as I sit here watching dance after dance

wash through my eyes and over my heart,

I see self after self I have known,

full of the best of who they are,

and sure of their release 

of vision and virtuosity on the stage,

and those I do not know from before 

I seem to know now,

from the beginning the power of a child undoes me

as each makes the way forward,

inherent with joy and persistent through troubles,

I can see a wholeness wrench forward,

after middle school I am more spectator than guide,

in this high school dance concert, overseen by seniors,

I am deeply moved by how well

these young people have proved to themselves and to us,

how possible, and even likely, growing up well can be,

in the stasis, in the movement,

in the vision and in the execution,

what breaks upon the audience

is the sureness of the rightness

of who each is growing up to be.

by Henry H. Walker
December 12, ’12