Michael Keshigian: MUSIC GRATIFICATION

He wanted to know everything

a musician knew,

how to start with a note

that blossomed into a composition,

jazz or symphonic,

it didn't matter much,

Take Five or Beethoven's Fifth

as long as he could make

some toe-tapping or baton swinging

sense of the melodies

that swirled in his head.

He could write lyrics

all day long on a blank page

but had only the rhythm of words

to dance to,

the timbre and articulations

came from a different place

and were never enhanced

by a slick clarinet gliss

or a violin's frenetic staccato.

He was happy, though,

that he could listen to

the most complex pieces

or simplest tunes

and transform himself

into a feather

that floated upon the resonance,

landing gently at the final cadence,

gratified that he could internalize

the intention of sounds

he couldn't call his own.

Copyright Michael Keshigian. Reprinted here by kind permission of the author.