Dal Niente Concert May 2010

Oboe concerto
it was rollicking
it was juicy
a branch hung with baubles that danced and rang
together and apart
in the hot breath that held them

Ligeti Etudes pour piano
we ingested the strands and swallowed
as fast as we could, trying to chew
to taste, to taste
as they slipped into us
beyond our tongues
beyond even our senses
into our hearts or somewhere

Pre-Pulse Suspended: Section marked “abrasive”
a heavy long-handled spoon
plunged into damp sand and dragged
up slowly, rasping against
the powdered glass
losing grains as it rose
until it broke the surface, empty
the furrow quickly closed
over the narrowing, the invisible wound

Tinted sky
sonorous medallions in the high arches
minor suns, bell tongues thickened
and damped, their bronze disks
quivering still with silent recollection
of the music that was and might have been

The musicians
we, the driven steeds of time
blinkered and bound
are chased by clang and clatter,
a rich carriage, a trundling cart
we don’t know which
don’t care, we stretch our necks
our limbs devour the road ahead
behind our eyes the shining fields await