Dance!

By Elton Wildermuth, 1999

Listen to the melody we play,
lose yourself within the songs we sing.
Join us now and dance the night away --
we have all night if you're inclined to stay.

We'll tell you tales of murderers and kings,
of faded love that blossomed fresh in spring,
of pestilence and plague and dark decay,
of mysteries and long-forgotten things.

Dance! Dance!
Surrender to the power
that surrounds you;
leave uncertainty behind.
Dance! Dance!
For swiftly comes the hour
when the world will turn,
and daylight be struck blind.

Fate is a courtesan, a thief, a clown,
a bride to no one, friend to but a few.
Her smile is like the hangman's somber frown,
a pool of tears in which a man can drown.

Love is as old as time, forever new,
life's pinnacle, the universe's crown,
and thus we have no right but to pursue
our pleasures here before we bid adieu.

Dance! Dance!
The wheel of time is spinning,
and it turns for us
more often fast than slow.
Dance! Dance!
Rejoice in the beginning
of a song whose ending
none of you will know.