Penultimate

Practicing is Courting

The artist and the notes exploring each other

If awkwardly, sometimes.

Stumbling through phrases to see where there’s a connection

And where work is needed.

 

Rehearsals bring support

A kind of group date (or game night perhaps)

Where couples lean on friends

Each still nurturing their own relationships.

But knowing help is there.

 

The cycle then restarts

Practices delve deeper, more personal, and more raw.

A bond is cemented.

And rehearsals become more about how friends interact.

As they move to the goal

 

Publicly declaring

In front of the witnesses and friends,

What they’ve nurtured and grown.

And after the public pomp and circumstance:

Fabulous ecstasy.

 

…Which to some is the point

That explosion of applause is why they even perform.

Focusing on the thrill.

Letting it fill them as they stand and take their bow

They got what they came for.

 

That’s not THE moment though.

A deeper joy: the last note still ringing, baton still in the air.

That anticipation.

The musician looks deeply into the eyes of the music

And sighs, surrendering.

Exodus

So dry
And I thirst,
But the worst
Is this sand.

Grains fly,
Pierce my face
Every place
In this land.

We fled
Pharaoh's grip
For this trip
Which I hate.

No bread
While we stray,
So we pray
And we wait.

Parched lips
Spit a groan
Til the stone
Touched his rod.

These sips,
Through the pains,
My thirst wanes
Thanks to God

But food?
Despite fears
It appears:
Manna, quail

Our Guide:
Smoke and flame
Yahweh Came
Without fail.

Heart

A beating heart
Lets one survive
A giving heart
Means one's alive

Questions?

When I wonder "Why?"
Often, the wrong question's asked.
The right answer? "No."

I'm so small (I tell myself, to make me feel better)

I stare at the sky
Feeling so powerless yet
Conversely, guilty

Stormy Sonnet

An ocean, now unleashed, is falling down.

My street: a raging river now tonight

And yet what twists my feeble mind around?

The darkened clouds do not cast out all light.

For as I hear the thunder's wild roar,

I look outside and see an eerie sky,

The sun, not set, still has some light in store,

Though I can't see it with the naked eye.

Please help me understand why this is hard.

For it confounds me every time I see

That God has played this creepy stormy card

When dark clouds meet the late day light o'er me.

And when the storm has past, the painted air

Reflects the yellow of a sun not there.

Compass

The night is dark, the forest deep
I hear many a fright'ning sound
A howl, a snap, I dare not sleep
The once-wide path can not be found.

Searching above won't help my plight
I only see the canopies
The leaves have blocked my view tonight
I can't see through them, past the trees

And even when i catch a glance
Of sky between the leafy crouds
I see that I still have no chance:
The sky's obscured by rolling clouds

And yet, shortsighted I remain
I need no sky to guide my way.
Beyond the stars I'll place my aim.
You'll guide me to the light of day.