Her Empty Chair at the Milonga (poem)

We leave her chair empty, hoping she will return.

The chair she always found 
Is empty--no red, tattered shoe bag
Reserving her spot as she danced.

I notice the lonely chair
The first night of her absence.
I ask about her.
I call. She says she's on holiday.
Tango's become a chore.

Days turn into months
Without her presence.
Her loss is my absence.
The bell tolls for me too.
Her loss is our absence.
It is us; it is me.

I mourn my own frailty to abandon
Love or kindness or an embrace.
The struggle of being fully engaged in life,
The drama surrounding waking in an embrace,
The drama surrounding the walking embrace
Can be more than we --
More than I--can stand.
Is it worth it?

Why do we quit love?
   The love of movement,
   The love of being held,
   The love of a walking as one?
Ask any lover, and the voice will belie
The connection the heart desires.
The excuses of disconnection are many
For which our heart has no words or reason.

So this is my song to you, tanguera!

(I pull out my guitar and say...)
Se llama este vals cruzado...
Silla de Soledad

There's a season for all of these things,
But your hand in mine--that lasts forever.
There's a song in your soul which still sings,
Of the bonds inside you, you must sever.

There's a season to make bonds anew,
When the soul again needs you to share.
There's a cry out of empty dance shoes
Which is asking you once more to dare.

And a haunting song plays still within,
From a tango played deep from your heart.
"Tell me when you'll return to your place!
And when will your soul's dance yet start?"

So do what your soul now most loves.
And when you return I'll embrace you.
So do what your soul now best does.
And when you return, I'll embrace you.

When you return.
When you return.
And when you return, 
I'll embrace you.

Note:  "Silla de Soledad" means 

Chair of Loneliness  

The idea for this poem came from an announcement from a fellow tango blog-ista, "the Tango Bitch," who was a bit disillusion with the milonga scene (22 Apr 2011):   http://thetangobitch.wordpress.com/.  Be kind to those around you. Embrace them and let their soul get out on the playground to play with other.  We need each other.

Photo credit: 
http://visualphotos.com/image/2x2689642/empty_chair_casting_shadow