photo by the author, 2015
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two poems by Rosalie Hendon
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LOVER PLAYING GUITAR II
The other night you were playing guitar,
bare-chested, looking like a rock god,
your fingers flying over the strings.
I admire you for your passion,
your ability to make music blossom
from a wood and metal shell.
I admire your tenacity,
practicing until skin peels from your fingers.
Much like when you pray,
I want to be as close as possible.
I press my ear to your heartbeat.
Maybe proximity will help me
understand your devotion.
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DREAM JOURNAL: A SINGLE NOTE
Cupped in his hands is a bird
capable of uttering a single note.
Of all who hear it,
the first to draw breath
trades their voice for that single note.
Rain falls.
It pools on the flagstones of the ruined hall.
He is silent as he rises,
his twists a veil.
When you see him, run.
Run till you are out of earshot.
Run to a soundproof room.
Take your brother’s hand, drag him with you.
Fight the lethargy
flowing before them like the tide.
Whatever you do,
hold your breath.
Music can hold enormous power in memories and experiences, transporting us instantly to an age, location, or person. What sonic joys, mysteries, disbelief, and clarity have you experienced? Identify songs of influence in your life and explore them like variations on a theme, melding syntax and song structure, recalling the seriousness or levity that accompanies. Whether it’s an account of when a specific song first entered your life, the process of learning to play a song, teaching someone a song, experiencing the same song in different places as it weaves through your life, unbelievable radio timing, sharing songs with those in need, tracking the passing down of songs, creative song analysis, music as politics, etc, I am interested in those ineffable moments and welcoming submissions of your own variations on a theme, as drawn from your life’s soundtrack. Please email submissions to meganentropy@gmail.com and keep an eye out for others’ Variations.
**(“song” is a broad phrase: could be a pop song, a traditional tune, a symphony, commercial jingles, a hummed lullaby, 2nd grade recorder class horror stories, etc)**
Rosalie Hendon is an environmental planner living in Columbus, Ohio with her new husband and many house plants. She started a virtual poetry group in April 2020 during quarantine that has collectively written over 200 poems. Her work is forthcoming in Change Seven, Planisphere Q, and Call Me [Brackets]. Rosalie is inspired by ecology, relationships, and stories passed down through generations.
