Autumnal glory, haloed gold,
Crown of splendour from of old;
Dying embers, kingdom come,
Truthful speech from ashen drum.
When the hard work came
and fingers fell flat
in dyslexic stumbles
at the stern reminders
of the metronome
who eyed her sharply
over dog-eared pages,
it didn’t feel as though
she had been handed
the keys to the kingdom.
It would take thousands
of chromatic notes to scale
that mountain, thousands
of butchered melody lines
to bind chords of muscle memory
and visual acuity into
harmonious union,
inversions ringing
as theory sang its way
into practise.
She couldn’t tell you
when the notes began to stir
something more than
soured milk in her soul,
when the melodies
sank into her bones
and played her heart-strings
in tones of salvation songs;
all she knows is that
these keys have unlocked
Rapunzel’s gate,
releasing the Muse,
and fingering their well-worn
skin ignites her own
with a song
that beats in her breast
with the sound
of her own
pulse.
I see You there, covering
me – a cathedral ceiling
of finespun gold, aspen-boughs
crowning my way with glory.
.
I hear You in the whisper,
silent assignations passed
from one trembling yellow throat
to another, gentle sighs.
.
I feel Your gaze rocking me sweet,
and I breathe, slow and deep, pause
mid-stride to rest in dappled
acceptance, cherished by shade.
.
You are here. You, Your essence,
Your presence – it sings, sunshine
in shadow, gold filigree
on an altar made of wood.
.
Splintered, I crack open. Your
notes rustle in my veins, seep
past knots, and I’m rooted here,
utterly, completely me.
Light, robed in fabric
satin-spun with sun-beams,
sways – swirls, extends
muscles and feet
.
in secretive dance
upon stage soft as
silk. Her music is
the subtle sigh of lonesome
.
pines, the cadence of
songbirds greeting the
dawn, the rustle of
feathers in flight;
she delights in this
moment, this filament of time
hung on summer breeze,
and she dances. Her
.
body melts into
nature’s melody – is
electrified by its pulse,
consumed by its rhythm,
.
choreographed by its
raw emotion. She lets go,
jubilation in every line,
and she dances.