Right and Left Grand

sam­bear made me real­ly hear these words for the first time today. How did I miss this before?

Echo’s Children—“Right and Left Grand”

Lyrics and melody © 2000 by Cather­ine Faber
Arrange­ment © 2000 by Arlene “Cal­lie” Hills

The caller we answer has sum­moned the dancers;
Our hands touch; I ask myself why
Part­ing’s repeat­ing must shad­ow each meeting;
The fruits of hel­lo bear the seeds of good-bye.

Pass­ing through, chang­ing places, we smile on new faces;
Our joy lies in say­ing hello.
Bal­ance and swing, prom­e­nade ’round the ring,
It’s a joy to embrace and a grief to let go.

Yet the same steps that part us will bring us
New part­ners to hon­or and guide.
Hand clasp­ing hand weav­ing right and left grand,
I will meet you again on the cir­cle’s far side.

Our his­to­ries braid as the steps are replayed
With each part­ner, cycling through
We part and we meet in the pat­tern’s repeat
And the pat­tern I fol­low leads right back to you

For the same steps that part us will bring us
New part­ners to hon­or and guide.
Hand clasp­ing hand weav­ing right and left grand,
I will meet you again on the cir­cle’s far side.

Part­ing’s seeds grow, till they blos­som “hel­lo”
In their own time; the ques­tion is when?
I see at a glance that our lives are a dance
And the pat­tern’s a promise I’ll meet you again.

The same steps that part us will bring us
New part­ners to hon­or and guide.
Hand clasp­ing hand weav­ing right and left grand,
I will meet you again on the cir­cle’s far side.