Tuning the Beast
I prepare contingencies for all outcomes. No.
I’ve prepared for this: a body. A key. As if
that cloth draped a leg. Not a leg
but the representation of a limb.
Another fragment, brought forth and opened.
Not a limb, an arrow, perhaps, pointing to the sea.
An oar, brought inland and unrecognized
for its purpose, directed or aimless. No, not an oar.
A neck, polished, and a chamber, with strings.
Repetition, fixation. Position. Intent.
I pluck and strum, pick and stroke, maintaining
space, steel above wood, bending notes,
moving sound in time, purposefully, from
this place to that, the left hand, creating,
conversing. The right, reasoning, controlling,
burning its past to the present, allowing,
preventing, rendering beat, consistent
motion, shaping only this moment, this now.
“Tuning the Beast” was drafted during the August 2015 Tupelo Press 30-30 Challenge, thanks to Sunshine Jansen’s sponsorship. It subsequently appeared in The Blue Nib in September 2016.
O at the Edges 
how beautiful
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Thank you, Beth.
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These lines are improv energy, taking me first visually closer, closer to an emerging image … then tactile exploration … then off into the realm of wondering what on earth is this really about?! In short, this really grabs my attention. A wonderful read.
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I suppose this is about how my process works – little unrelated bits here and there found along the way.
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Is anything truly unrelated to every other thing?
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I presented that title hoping your response would give my book of that title a little nudge, and a sideways turn, and reading this version I once again get more than I hoped for! Love the music in this piece, RO.
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Thanks, SJ. It was a fun one to write, and a poem that never would have been written if not for your title!
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🙂
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