Invisible Partners (With love to Aron and Hannah. I'll dance with you anytime.)

her white high heel shoes are a little too big,
her dress reaches down to the floor,
she makes graceful moves with a rose in her teeth,
not knowing i stand at the door.
An invisible partner she holds in her arms,
and they dance in the light of the moon,
two little girls in a make-believe game,
on a Saturday mid-afternoon.

Little girls dance with invisible partners,
they turn and they spin till there's wind in their hair,
the ones they imagine can cause them no trouble,
her heart can't be broken by one who's not there.

A woman grows up, well into her thirties,
she wanted a husband, she wanted a home,
she dreamed as a girl of the perfect Prince Charming,
but it's Saturday night and she's here all alone.
She pulls down the shade and she puts up her hair,
the high heels fit well and her dress hits the floor,
she turns on the music, she curtsies and spins,
with the lover she dreamed of two decades before.

Lonely hearts dance with invisible partners,
they turn and they spin till there's wind in their hair,
the one she imagines is leaving her lonely,
her heart's somehow broken by one who's not there, who never was there.

we grow up believing fantastic illusions
set ourselves up for some terrible days,
dreaming is fine if we believe this conclusion,
that dancing alone is OK.....  being alone is OK …

So spin around girl, it's a joy just to watch you,
as pretty an angel as any i've seen,
keep music inside you and wind in your hair,
and lose not the magic of little girl dreams...

(Accordion - Alan Kaufman; Irish whistle - Ken Bloom)

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