Music of the Spheres
This week we are proud to post our second place winner in the recent WIR writing contest.
Music of the Spheres
By Charles Blondino
He sits into the leather chair large enough for three of him.
“I just learned to play this,” he says and lifts his guitar.
We both watch the fingers of the left hand slowly find the key of C.
His eyes watch the music as his right hand with pick
touches string and breaks open the quietness
with the first sound of an old song made new.
Is there anything as beautiful as
that first clear note of an instrument
breaking the quiet?
He apologizes for mistakes
unaware that even angels
must learn to play their instruments.
When I read Charles Blondino’s poem “Music of the Spheres,” I was drawn in by the way the poet lets us know where he is speaking from and upon what occasion he is speaking, in time, in place and in emotion. By posing a simple question at the top of the poem’s third and final stanza, Charles offers us the moment when he connected with something other-worldly in this world. With this question, the poet makes the turn from casual moment to profound moment. With the answer to this question, he places us back on the ground where we started, but changed, as he is changed, and able to combine the quotidian moment and the ethereal moment. Charles’ poem is a kind of hello to a spiritual moment amidst everyday life, an affirmation of beauty that exists when we feel, really feel, the moments given to us. He is writing in a long tradition of such lyric poems.
William Blake reminded us at the top of his poem “Auguries of Innocence” that as children we have the talent to be awestruck by what comes our way:
To see a world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour.
William Carlos Williams reminded us to pay attention to what is small:
The Red Wheelbarrow
By William Carlos Williams
so much depends
upon
a red wheel
barrow
glazed with rain
water
beside the white
chickens.
Below are two well-known poems whose authors certainly took this advice.
Carl Sandburg‘s poem “A Coin” is a kind of goodbye to a greatness that passed from the earth; it is also, though, an affirmation of allowing the common to become uncommon:
A Coin
By Carl Sandburg
Your western heads here cast on money,
You are the two that fade away together,
Partners in the mist.
Lunging buffalo shoulder,
Lean Indian face,
We who come after where you are gone
Salute your forms on the new nickel.
You are
To us:
The past.
Runners
On the prairie:
Good-by.
In his poem “Just Thinking”, William Stafford focuses on an action he takes rather than on something he witnesses or observes; still, in pausing to celebrate the small action, he evokes the importance of a simple morning moment, just as Sandburg evokes the importance of reflecting on the coin’s image and Blondino focuses on the transforming moment of listening to his friend play:
Just Thinking
By William Stafford
Got up on a cool morning. Leaned out a window.
No cloud, no wind. Air that flowers held
for awhile. Some dove somewhere.
Been on probation most of my life. And
the rest of my life been condemned. So these moments
count for a lot–peace, you know.
Let the bucket of memory down into the well,
bring it up. Cool, cool minutes. No one
stirring, no plans. Just being there.
This is what the whole thing is about.
The poet describes a moment we might feel is ordinary and tells us what is important to him about this moment. Whether readers think of their own lives as ones in which they suffer feeling on trial and feeling judged, they can certainly identify with the difference between being alone in the world for a relished solitary moment and being among others with the social rules of keeping up appearances and expectations. Stafford sets us straight on what is necessary for him (and probably for us as well) — using solitary moments to savor memories in stillness.
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Whether you are writing poetry or prose, you can benefit from the example of lyric poets who write in accessible language using simple details to tell a deeper story.
Try your hand at writing a short lyric poem:
Think of a moment in your daily life this week that you’d like to capture on paper. It might be viewing an object on your table or desk, listening to a child at play, watching an elder laugh or eat. It might be listening to a particular piece of music, sitting in a particular place, walking a path in nature or a garden. Zero in on the details of the object, event, or moment and then allow those details to yield a message in your felt connection.
If you’d like, post your results in our article discussion (along with any comments you have on Charles Blondino’s poem and this article).