Slow Dance

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.

NB This poem was written by a terminally ill young girl in a New York Hospital.
   It was sent by a medical doctor - Dr. Yeou Cheng Ma.

   At the time this poem was written, the girl had only six months left to live
   . She was slowly dying from cancer. One of her last wishes was to get this
   message out to live life to the fullest, because she would never get to. She
   would never get to prom, get married, or have a family of her own. It is her
   and her family's hope that one day people will realize the value of life and
   live it the best that they can.