DEBUSSY’S STRING QUARTET

The violin lingers in loneliness.

The three violins mingle in longing

with solitary cello’s moaning to bless

surrounding night’s mute wish for belonging.

They are we as one, no longer harming

our universe with lies, our feared desires,

our futile attempts at selfish charming

the crowd, the lover, the boss who fires

us through frustration. What counts now, it seems:

being truly human, learning honest

words and actions create love, fulfill dreams

we never possessed before this strange quest

to share and understand all. Violins,

cello tell us all, if we’ll just listen.

Roger Armbrust

January 30, 2019

JACKSON REED’S MELODY

Jackson Reed’s at his piano, his hands

gently caressing its keys, ebb and flow

of his original notes in command

of my vision, lifts me from here and now

to inside a rambling train, gazing out

its wide window, rain trailing across pane

like memory, and outside silent shout

of a woman running to catch up in vain.

We leave her waving, push on, weaving past

emerald green fields, a sudden forest,

a line of suncast mountains, hinting last

visions before dark holds us with the rest

of his melody repeating itself

like longing to lift hope from its stark shelf.

Roger Armbrust

January 18, 2019