Waltz of Love

Heard Amy Beach's "Waltz of Love" on the radio as I was going to work last week and was struck by how unpredictable it was, at least to a layman's ear.  No steady Straussian 1-2-3, 1-2-3 here. And then I began to think how all those variations  - accelerations, heistations, alternations, etc.- are more like love, more like the human heart, which is less mechanical and more responsive than a metronome.

                  “Waltz of Love”
                                    on hearing the piece by Amy Beach
           Lovely for listening
                   but difficult to dance
                             to any
                            conventional count –
                                                the rhythm
                                                  more expressive than
                                                                  regular, requiring
                                                                         the couple to intuit, antici-
                                                                                                        pate, alter
                                                                                                                       nate
                                                                                                          sep a rate
                                                                                          andrecombine.
                                                                                    Hesitate
                                                                          syncopate
                                                                      solo
                                                                   spin
                                               then intertwine.
                                such ebb and flow
                                       lovers know
                                            blurs the line
                                                    between
                                                          yoursandmine
                                                                 and makes the dancers
                                                                                         and the dance
                                                                                                 more human
                                                                                                              and divine.