Thursday, December 17, 2020

Bartok and the Stars

 (second version)

"The ways of life are infinite and mysterious."- Georgio Scerbanenco, Traitors to All, translated by Howard Curtis



In spite of my playing, the piano

produced a simple minuet by Bartok, 

which made me think of walking

cautiously across a frozen pond.


An empty coffee cup sat there

on the bookshelf. Cool ceramic.

Out there, and "up":  night.

And stars, which we think of


as a permanent installation, 

not a chaotic map of explosions

or freckles on an infinite face.

I dream recurrently about new


stars, close and bright, 

flowing past in a sky-parade

as I look up from a meadow

in mountains and watch, 


thrilled and terrified. I almost

forget to breathe. Someone I can't see

says, "Words are stars. I've

told you that before. Many times."

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