Slow Dance

A close acquaintance of mine is down with cancer of the bone marrow. I visited him last week - and in the course of our talking, he said - somewhat wistfully - "I was too busy in my life. I wish had made more time to meet up & spend time..." he trailed away. I did not ask further. And then this week at work, a friend from the U.S, sent me a poem apparently written by a teenager in a New York hospital, terminally ill with cancer. Its called Slow Dance - and its one of the most touching poems I have come across. As Paulo Coelho says - there is nothing called co-incidence, what looks like a co-incidence is very often the soul of the universe giving us a message. Read on...

Have you ever watched kids On a merry-go-round?
Or listened to the rain slapping on the ground?
Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight?
Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?

You better slow down. Don't dance so fast. Time is short. The music won't last.

Do you run through each day on the fly?
When you ask how are you?
Do you hear the reply?
When the day is done do you lie in your bed with the next hundred chores running through your head?

You'd better slow down Don't dance so fast. Time is short. The music won't last.

Ever told your child, we'll do it tomorrow?
And in your haste, not see his sorrow?
Ever lost touch, Let a good friendship die
Cause you never had time to call and say,'Hi'

You'd better slow down. Don't dance so fast. Time is short. The music won't last.

When you run so fast to get somewhere
You miss half the fun of getting there.
When you worry and hurry through your day,
It is like an unopened gift.... Thrown away.

Life is not a race. Do take it slower. Hear the music
Before the song is over.