Sonnet for Solo Voice
...practicing my solitary scales 'til they rose like balloons
watching them go where they will go.
-- The Mountain Goats, "Song for Lonely Giants"
Those who can sing will never understand
The torture of missing, even after a million
Tries, the right note, the resplendent flourish,
The transcendent ache that crowns aria,
Ballad, anthem, lullaby, and hymn.
When I try to sing, my children groan
In happy anguish, appalled that I would
Willingly unleash upon the world
So frayed and such sour notes. “Do not ever,”
My daughter Molly pleads, “try that again.”
I do, of course. I try again and again and again,
Certain that one day I will sing so well
My children, all of them, will weep with joy to hear me
Instead of weeping, as they do now, to hear me.
John, did you write this? It has your cadences, for sure. Very nice.
ReplyDeleteYep, that's me, singing my sad song.
ReplyDelete