Arroyo
Two friends emerged from the dry basin of the Arroyo. One panting heavily, and the other lively, stepping up the rocks in the cracks.
the Flood
I had never met a single one But I knew all of those little girls. They were my little sisters with five braids in their hair They wrote letters home Sharing beauty rare. They asked for candy From counselors Who knew better Than to share The sugary sweet goodness During rest hour. And they cried…
NYT Grammatical Error
Does it matter you hold a cello?The New York Times omits a word. Does it matter you use grammar?Understood is understood. Does it matter you drop a bomb?The rally cry of hate is heard. Does it matter I read the news?My ultimate end is quite assured.
Muses
He composed the piece for violabecauselike every composerwho ever composed a piece for viola,he was in love with a violist. I wonder if she knowswhat she createdas his muse. If she celebrates,Or sinks inside herself,when she hears the low C sing. The unmoved moverwith cause of attractionextracting beautyfrom the mind of the manwho remembers her…
A Friend of Virtue
A friend of virtuedoesn’t wear the same size shoeOr sit in the cubicle next to you.She didn’t appear because you happened to be alphabetically compatible and sitting in a row. At least that’s not why she was chosen more than other people who wear size 9, or prairie dog in that long-forgotten secretarial pool, or…
Handel’s Water Music at My Wedding
Full of joy and laughter and loveMy parents gave me few choresNo ultimatumsI never was groundedOr punishedI learned to criticize myself for every flawAnd correct others creating boundariesWhere I had none. My mother was a musicianA concert harpist who played in four symphoniesOf south LouisianaAnd weddings on most weekendsShe played nearly 10,000 weddings in 40…
Movement
The first thing I learned about the violinWas to move my bow with the other bowsNot to position my hands, or count the tempoBut that the dance of the bow on the stringsAnd the look of the group mattered moreThan the sounds we produced.Making a note, and moving my bowI sounded like a dying catScratching…
Let us not cling
"The happiness of a tree that clings to its roots” wrote Nietzsche in 1873A hundred years before I was bornWhen the roots I would cling to were being formed. Let us not cling to the past that our foremothers wrought with iron and wood as they cut down the trees to build cabins that became a neighborhood. Let us not cling, but…
Expectations
"Expect to win" is the motto of the Naval Academy. They've lost 42-8 to St. John's College in the Annapolis Cup.