The children spin
His hands grasped in hers
And they laugh together
A joyous sound
Stomping feet
And gasping breath
Maid and youth
Children yet
Now she protects hearth
While he defends home
Danger kept away by him
While she ensures
There is something
To keep the danger from
They spin no more
Not together
Her whirl is a dervish
His a destruction
She repairs the pieces
Of his shattered soul
He covers his jagged edges
Because forcing a defense
Against her protector
Is too much to ask
Of one who defends
From so much
Mother and warrior
A united front
Divided
As skill and strength allow
He is too weak
To repair her cracks
He can only sand
Her damaged edges
Like the weathering of time
Against a mountain front
What she needs she takes
And then demands more
And he gives and he gives
For someone must
Be strong enough
To squeeze their child's
Rightful due
From a world
That would
Try
Deny them
And he knows
Beyond a doubt
It can't be him
His strength abroad
Is weakness here
While her strength is strength
Everywhere
Now they neither
Spin nor defend
Instead they watch their child
Who spins and spins
Spinning alone
Happily
The joyous laughter of ages past
The stomp of feet
Come to their door
Sage and crone
Know what they see
The dawn of the new child
Whole and complete
Neither youth
Nor maiden be
Yet both in one
For all to see
The new child is bold
The new child is brave
The new child weeps loudly
The new child fights fiercely
Both at home and abroad
And when they return
To hearth and home
Such as they find it
Or as they've made it
They bring gifts of words
They bring gifts of song
They honor the aged
As they pass on
As they progress
Child
Adult
Wizened themselves
They'll grant the gift
Of they road they've passed
For though they are all
Combined in one
They can never truly be either
A crime to some
And as the new child
Becomes the aged one
They remember their past
And the love they've known
The new dances have three
A sight they've never seen
Maid
Youth
Child
All spinning together
To honor everything
In between
They watch with pride
And delight in their heart
Knowing there are more middles
To be found
They are a model
Their middle is not wrong
Not a crime
Merely unacknowledged
Forced to the edges
By fears taken on
Unintentionally
Or forced on them by others
Who want to claim
They know best
And they spin alone
Once again
To show how it's done
They fight one last battle
With the hearth they've earned
They use what they know
To make it last
They protect their hearth
They're the only one who can
Even though their hearth
Extends beyond their home
They give the trios dancing
Chance to become adults
So they can make space for more middles
With wonderous results
They do not see the new children
And those after that
But they do not need to
In order to know
That those children will be protected
By those whose hearths extend
Far beyond their homes
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