Dance Card: A Birth Poem

I recently heard this beautiful poem read at the International Midwifery Today Conference in Germany and had to share! Grab the tissues... Dance Card By JB Shelleby You and I had one last long slow dance together alone. There were other people in the room but it was just you and I dancing. I travelled from wall to wall, swaying and rocking to down-tempo music, uncomplicated footwork. You followed my lead perfectly. Our connection was spot-on. You did your thing: shimmying, sliding, curving and twisting, and I did mine, and we were fantastic partners. We pulled off the finale beautifully, patient with one another's timing, not rushing what we both knew was our last moment of complete intimacy. After this, there would be so many who wanted to dance with you, who loved you as much as I, and I was glad to know that your dance card would be full for all the days you breathed. But in that split second moment it was still only us. I reached down into the water, hooked my hands under your arms and lifted you up into the air in one smooth motion. It was the one time in both our lives that we would perform this way together. And I know you don't remember this, but I'm telling you know: You were exquisite.