The First Last Dance, by Alun Robert

A Dance To The Music Of Time, by Nicolas Poussin (France) 1634-1636

The First Last Dance 
 
In their dance, a dance to the music of time 
treading a rhyme of rhythmic splendour 
without control of their spectacle 
four Seasons rollick with each other. 
 
Attired in their shimmering silks 
hair coiffured by all Hours 
Seasons sing of solstice 
while prancing hand-in-hand 
in ever-decreasing circles 
as Aurora proffers a new dawn 
through a pareidolia of Apollo, the chariot 
golden and horse-hitched 
to melodic strains of Time’s lyre 
reverberating through the ether 
in sight of the herma of Bacchus 
both youth and yesteryear. 
 
Seasons cavort, laughter echoes 
in the dance of outward facing veils 
over a testament of eternal trauma 
through yearnings for mortality 
against the deity of Time’s nudity 
with winged feathers sullen from 
his flight of introspection, the greybeard 
measured and transfixed 
without beginning or end 
twixt Seasons’ craving for continuity 
yet ignored by a couplet of cherub 
sheltering from the ides of Zodiac. 
 
The four Seasons frolic forever 
without control of their spectacle 
treading a rhyme of rhythmic splendour 
in their dance, a dance to the music of time. 
 
Alun Robert

Alun Robert is a prolific creator of lyrical free verse. He has achieved success in poetry competitions across the British Isles, Europe and North America. His work has been published by numerous literary magazines, anthologies and webzines in the UK, Ireland, Belgium, Italy, Turkey, India, South Africa, Kenya, USA and Canada. Since 2018, he has been part of The Ekphrastic Review community. He is a member of the Mid-Kent Stanza, Rye Harbour Poetry Group and Federation of Writers Scotland for whom he was a Featured Writer in 2019.