Dream Dance

They were two thugs Tough men Who fought for their territory Like animals in jungles One had settled there before The other one came later Both ferocious like tigers Muscles had the deciding power They came out of their abodes Showered abuses on each other Insecure the other guy might win Reason to be cautious Their words were acid, vituperative Yet, they dared not take The duel to a physical level Aren’t all our heroes After all silly cowards? Then they found a rhythm In their vociferous exchange Something their dithering feet Could emulate There was an element of dance And measure Even in mutual mud-slinging And they danced The two thugs Engaged in a wordy duel Vituperative like volcanoes Throwing lava on each other The villagers saw them dance Joined in, women and kids In sheer abandon The whole place danced What a splendorous beauty that was That began in a duel Of enmity and ended In absolute felicity Of great abandon of the feet The thugs danced As did the villagers And then the whole world Joined in, black and white Brown who took themselves white Oh, that was a sea of mirth Frothing, brimming out of bounds And then came the tidal wave Of animals of all sorts From nearby jungles They all danced Like never before In rare camaraderie Lo, the deer and wildcats together Antelopes, lions and tigers And the trumpeting pachyderms No one knows what got into their heads They moved in a swirl That shamed dervishes everywhere Oh, could this be our world! ? And then I awoke That was a dream That came from far of heavens Early in the morning at five O’clock I rolled on my bed restless I had all the dance Still in my waking senses Yet, I can’t make it happen again For, I am condemned to be human In a world where friends can’t be Only at each other’s throat could we be