Rush

The dancer slows her frantic pace
In pain and desperation,
Her aching limbs and downcast face
Aglow with perspiration
Stiff as wire, her lungs on fire,
With just the briefest pause --
The flooding through her memory,
The echoes of old applause.
She limps across the floor
And closes her bedroom door...
The writer stare with glassy eyes --
Defies the empty page
His beard is white, his face is lined
And streaked with tears of rage.