Exhortation to Dance

“For all the heaviness you have inherited by virtue of your belonging to the human race.For all the ones who have caused hurt. For all the ones who have bled. For those who practice dying. For the sleeping and the waking. For the gods and the ideas of gods laid rest and resurrected from smoke. For whatever is unknown in you. For whatever is unknown without you. For unutterable sadness. For whatever may be possible in dreams. For the ones who raised you from birth and for the ones who raised you from death. For the brief ecstasies that pierce and burn. For struggle and doubt. For embracing. For the expansiveness of yes. For refusal. For your own three goddamned square feet of space. For the moment before you close your eyes. For the ruin, and the ruined. For the Same-thing. For the unfit. For putting your ear to someone’s chest and understanding that they are alive. For the taste of saltwater. For the stumble. For shaking in the shadows under the bed. For tunnels emerging. For stillness. For the loud center. For wet sidewalks. For this moment. For the way your hand reaches into the dark, displacing the air. For the line of your throat. For you. For you. For you. For you. For you.”

—Shawnacy Kiker