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topic: can't hit the notes

by Rachelle Howe

life is a bandstand.

i've been sitting on
street corners with
piles of books and loose leaf
information
the four-four time with which i hold myself
rock myself
to sleep when i can curl
into the slumber of dissonance.

and there is little left to learn,
but much to swallow
when the pied piper comes:

i will never be a soloist.
i will never hold the brass quartet.
i will never have your crucifix mounted
on flesh that widdles and is wandered through.

i will never own an opera company.
i will never be stage worthy.
i will never do thirty crunches a day while
you chant from over my shoulder.

i will never cherish the babies that were smothered
by mothers who couldn’t remember their children's names.
i will never understand that delusion
is the marksmanships of disproportionate suffering.

(but while i am listless
i will be remembered
by the key notes i strained to hit
and the hoarse throat that sang
submission.)

11/08/2004

Author's Note: hm. a different tone from me these days. and i'm not quite sure how much i swallow, yet. ;) *editeditedit*

Posted on 11/08/2004
Copyright © 2024 Rachelle Howe

Member Comments on this Poem
Posted by Chris Sorrenti on 11/09/04 at 02:56 PM

I like and prefer this much more than some of your other recent posts Rachel...toned down but thought provoking...spiritually disturbing. I especially like the lines in italics.

Posted by Don Coffman on 11/11/04 at 01:58 AM

Topics! I'm so glad they're still being passed around. *smile* I'm fascinated by your words as ever. Hmm. Life is a bandstand, a neat twist on the worn out old saying about the world being a stage. Being a little out of practice with my constructive criticism though, I think I'll have to leave this with an approving *clap* for now. I might be able to just get by with telling you how nifty it was? :D

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