The Cotillion
On our blue planet
a-tilt, wobbling, rotating,
and revolving,
sky-shadows shimmy
in the slanted light
of spring—
the moon-pulled tides swell
and undulate,
and above, the blue or red-shifted
stars glimmer, but
nothing ever stands still—
all dancers
in a cosmic cotillion
the never-ending-dance.
A quadrille for dVerse. Mish has given us the prompt word, “shift.”
Yesterday and today: Merril's historical musings 
It is a dance indeed, like the quadrille the planet has brought us around again,
Thank you, Björn! Yes, indeed.
I love the used metaphor with the cotillion. Thanks for sharing, Merril! Have a beautiful week! xx Michael
Thank you so much, Michael! I hope you have a lovely week, too! 💙
Love the last stanza (an ode of nature) and perfect for our Quadrille too:
all dancers
in a cosmic cotillion
the never-ending-dance.
Thank you, Grace!
I thought of that with quadrille, too. 🙂
That stanza is my favorite, too, Grace.
Thank you, Liz!
You’re welcome, Merril!
what a beautiful picture to go with a beautiful poem. enjoyed both
Thank you so much, Rog!
Oh my, a unique take and translation of Van Gogh’s work. Especially love “sky-shadows shimmy in the slanted light of spring” and your use of “blue and red shifted”. I had a feeling you would use those. 😉
I’m so predictable! 🙂
I actually thought of the Van Gogh after I wrote the poem. Sort of an “of course!”
You are not predictable, Merril! I look forward to every word you write….and wow, that is amazing the way the painting matched your muse.
I wasn’t fishing for compliments, but thank you very much, Mish! 💙
hah, I know that too. 🙂
🥰
I love how you bring all those shifts in perspective and physical tilts together, the earth on its axis, the moon and the tides, the spinning stars, Van Gogh’s unique vision…
Thank you so much! 💙
I read an article recently about how the moon is moving away from the earth, and it got me thinking about how everything is moving. 🙂
The moon breaking away. Things really are bad then 😦
It’s been going on since forever. 🙂 It’s connected to the tides.
Imagine if the moon drifted away?
That’s something I DON’T want to imagine!
No, forget I mentioned it.
Haha. Good idea!
Loving that last stanza! I smiled when I saw the title. Our son and his family live in North Carolina and our granddaughter (5th grade) just participated in a Cotillion – etiquette classes, dance lessons, etc. Photo of her dancing with her dad (my son), with her white gloves…so so sweet!
Thank you very much, Lillian!
That’s funny about the cotillion. It sounds like something from Gilmore Girls. I’m sure you enjoyed the photos. 🙂
I’ve always found the moon’s controlling the tides fascinating.
Me, as well. I read an article recently about how the moon is moving away from the earth, and how that has increased the length of our days over time–and there’s a connection to the tides. . .
I didn’t know that the moon is moving away from the earth. I assume it’s a natural, not human-caused, phenomenon?
Yes, it’s a natural phenomenon.
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-12311119
Thank you for passing along the article, Merril. I just read it, and heard some faint bells from my school years ringing.
You’re welcome. 🙂
I like your “never-ending-dance”, nothing in our universe stands still. Some shift so slowly that we can’t tell by naked eye, only instrumentation notices it in the increments.
I wasn’t aware of your picture by Van Gogh, “Starry Night Over the Rhône.” It was one of his Rhône pieces that he painted when he lived within walking distance of the river. It won’t be my favorite of his.
..
Thank you very much, Jim! Yes, we can’t see most of the movement. And we’re all rotating around the Milky Way, too. It’s wild!
I really love this Van Gogh, and it is actually one of my favorites. 🙂
” a cosmic cotillion”! Brilliant. Beautifully described here, this endless dance.
Thank you so much, D.! 😊
A very interesting and amazing thought. The cosmos never stops dancing!
Thank you very much, Dwight. It’s dizzying to imagine. 😅
It really is!
Always in motion definitely a ‘dance’. This made me feel like the rocking of a cradle too.
Oh, interesting! Thank you so much, Susan!
Oh yes! A beautiful cotillion amongst the stars!
Thank you so much, Dale! ✨
Keep on dancing with the stars!
😂
😉
Yes; the cotillion concept for expressing the never-ending dance is perfect. Well done Merril. Thanks.
Thank you very much, Ron.!
I love all the gentle movement in your descriptions. (K)
Thank you very much, Kerfe!
You capture both the beauty and fragility of the earth here, Merril!
Thank you so much, Ingrid! 😊
Yes, a changing partners dance! I loved this Merril ☺️💕
Thank you so much, Christine! 💙
Beautifully written flowing imagery
Thank you so much, Derrick.
Beautiful!
Thank you!
How utterly delightful!!! The way our planet dances its way into Spring. Love your quadrille, Merril.
Thank you so much, Helen!
Just lovely Merril. I can feel the pulse of it all –
Thank you so much, Susan! 😊
What a delightful dance! Love it! ❤️
Thank you, Punam! 💙
You are welcome. 😊
I love the ceaseless movement in this piece, Merril. A beautiful dance it is.
Thank you very much! 😊
Lovely poem.
Thank you!