Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Music, from a Distance
The only thing I know is that the distance is real.
But the invisible hand of happenstance,
which gestures as if there were indeed something there
in the absence of things imagined, holds me back,
directs me to believe that there is a knowing
—a silent note waiting to be keyed in—
in the melodies wafting from her deft fingers
dancing on the keyboard in a time already past.
This knowing either she or I know not of.
There is no exactness of contact,
no dire need for acquaintance.
From where I perceive her, she is perpetually postured
on the piano, filling the air with telling tunes.
I remain an unnoticed spectator of her recital.
It's not really her there but a mere concept kept in time.
And I can applaud for eternity without her
catching a glimpse of me or hearing
the sound of my palms colliding
but this will not matter.
For who can tell if neither
distance nor imagining can yield tactility?
Who can tell when her playing will finally stop
and when it again will commence?
(For the lady pianist I chanced upon on YouTube)
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2 comments:
I think this poem is an interesting perspective on the Internet’s power to simultaneously bring people together and distance them from each other. As the poem describes, this consequence of the Internet bears complicated results for the performance arts, as artists will put their work up on sites like YouTube to be enjoyed and appreciated by the public but may never hear their applause or see their audience – a situation that poets who post their work online may find themselves in as well. I like that the poem is unresolved about the “realness” of the relationship between the pianist and the viewer on the side of the computer screen – the only thing that is real is the distance, a disconnect that is aptly expressed through the enjambment of many of the lines.
Hi Natalie!
Thanks for taking time to give a "'nuff said" assessment of my poem. I assume you're into poetry as well? Too bad the link you left is broken so I can't trace you. Was hoping to read some of your works, too, if indeed you have some. Still, thanks much for leaving a mark. :)
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