Dance of Life

Location

30052
United States
33° 48' 9.6516" N, 83° 54' 39.2292" W

Darkness on the stage
everyone and everything in its place;
The show is about to begin.

In the center stage
Henrietta Lacks danced...
her long thin face...
flashing a seductive grin as she moved...
she tilted her head back and raised her hands,
waving them softly in the air before letting them fall to smooth her curlers...3
smooth and radiant with red fire
she is beautiful, always has been,
every part of her being (literally)-
even down to silver, pearly matter
in a beautifully ironic way,
that would consume her and slowly take her life away;
she fades to black,
then does the stage lights.
Her solo is over, yet not exactly;
it's about to begin.

What was once thought to be darkness is no more;
a flicker of lighting still resides
turning into a bolt
turning into a shine
then a glow
the dance of Life is no longer for Henrietta Lacks
yet the dance remains?

How could that be?
The show is over
the dance concludes
the audience rises to exit the theater
after a well-deserved round of applause
but the music still plays
and the tap-tap of dance steps can be heard on stage
but there's not a foot to be found.

the dance of HeLa continues
they're all dancing out there-
somewhere along the line
they're still on the stage, somewhere, I'm sure-
very broad and wide.
the curtains has by no means gone down on them
and the music plays on...

'they're beautiful'
beautiful and otherworldly
glowing...moving like water
calm and ethereal
looking precisely like heavenly bodies might look-
they could even float through the air.

Encores are thrown onto the stage by booming voices
the audience is manic
the light is blaring, but isn't the same light as before

it is the light of a projector
blasted upon a concrete wall of a research lab;
the audience, all donned in white coats and stethoscopes
overworked and overwhelmed
of finding the promise of immortality
the perpetual dance of life;
they're hoping the encore will never end
and that the secret is found in its dance steps
yet they haven't caught the rhythm.
Once the rhythm is found
all will be free
to dance further than the edges of the stage.

I know the cause(s) of tides... hurricanes
but I can't stop them.
I know the current causes of death
and even if I can prevent some of the current causes of death,
I cannot stop death;
it's here to stay.
All flesh is as the grass.

What once had consumed Henrietta
had now consumed the thought of all their minds.
As if the dance of her remains
overshadowed her own being
(thus repeating its history).
No one had remembered that Henrietta had ever stepped onto the stage.

Guide that inspired this poem: 

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