As the world shakes and rumbles beneath the feet,
the spinning top retains its balance,
The external motion having no purchase upon
its dance, energy imparted that will be completed

and so I act the toy.
Let the cruel marvel at my motions and beat,
let my hands weave patterns they interpret
as the flap of a wing, or the flow of water.

Let the body bend with the kind partner,
all the better to prepare for when one must bend
with a partner cruel and demanding. Whose clumsy
attempts to dance are met with gentle evasion.

Let the attempts continue, for dance is a discipline
of the body, and those that prepare for other steps
see not the stains, the sores and the bruises
that all who learn to move must partake in.

Oh let man mock my rhythms. Let my simple steps
be overlooked as men flock to play with the toys
so beloved of the assembly. It soars in glory
the wealth of the city in its feathers.

I bend to pick up a scrap left behind,
and continue the motion, leaving no sign
of the fall of the body, or the passage of time.
For my rhythm and pace continues,

Only the sharpest eye, or one who learns my steps
will know the meaning of the footfalls.
Let them delight in my grace. Let them cheer for my wit.
Let them gasp at my leaps and envy those that catch me.

For when they choose to dance, certain in their strength,
they will find they cannot maintain the pace.
Their toys cannot whirl for them, weighed as they are
by the diminishing feed they feast upon greedily.

So strike me up a hearty song that moves the mind,
for any will do for my steps. Today, however I feel
that a lively song that catches the conscience
will serve for my pleasure. Laugh at the flames

that rise fearsome, for with leaps and bounds
the fire is tamed within. Feel the sinews sing
with joy at their exertion, and fall restful
into a sleep that ensures the same tomorrow.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMmsTiWy5u4]