A Dancer in a Music Box

By Hannah Parker

A dancer in a music box

Only dancing when you open her up

She twirls to the tinkling tunes and sounds

She is all yours, not allowed to get out

When the key on occasion turns in the lock

She dances to the music while you sit and watch

Like a puppet the dancer always pops up

Reduced to just a dancer in a music box

But when the key on occasion doesn't turn in the lock

The girl just waits, wondering what she did wrong

Should she be happy that she doesn't have to dance

Or should she be upset that she's trapped in her own head

And what if one day the dancer escapes and is gone

What if there’s no girl to dance to the song?

What if the key this time turns in the lock

But there’s no dancer to dance in the music box

What becomes of the tunes to which the girl danced along?

What becomes of the girl who is all fled and gone?

What becomes of the key that sometimes opened the lock?

And what becomes of you, who trapped the girl in a box?

The tunes will grow old with no one dancing along

The girl will finally be freed to dance on her own

The key will mean nothing without needing a lock

But you? You will be regret trapping a dancer in a music box