In the quiet room she lay,
Breath thin as breaking glass,
Yet music lived inside her.
She whistled through the pain,
Soft notes rising and falling,
Like light through a cracked door.
Buckdancer’ Choice echoed gently,
Turning sorrow into rhythm,
Making the air tremble.
I stood close to the wall,
Afraid to even breathe,
Listening to her small brave song.
Her chest a fragile drum,
Her voice a silver thread,
Sewing hope into silence.
Buckdancer’s Choice returned again,
Circling the bed like wings,
Refusing to fade away.
In every broken note,
There was strength and memory,
And a dancer in the dark.
Buckdancer’s Choice beat softly,
Against the shadow of death,
Lifting us both for a moment.
I saw her almost rising,
Not dancing, but near flight,
Carried by her own music.
Read More: https://truehymns.com/down-by-the-salley-gardens/
“Buckdancer’s Choice” Summary
“Buckdancer’s Choice” by James L. Dickey is about a sick mother who whistles a song while lying in bed. Though she suffers from breathless angina, her music shows strength and courage. The poem connects her fading life to old buck-and-wing dancers, showing how art and spirit survive even in the face of death.
