Bamboo Flute
I am studying simplicity
in the way a rattlesnake
watches a field mouse,
which means of course
that I am doing it all wrong
and making this much more
difficult. Today’s lesson
is humility: I achieve no
tone from this damn bamboo
flute, no matter how I adjust
my mouth and wind. Go
watch football, the voices
say. Instead I go to the grocery,
buy my wife’s favorite
wine, and later pour her
a glass and offer Irish cheddar
with rice crackers and a few
grapes. I sip beer, pick up
the flute, and sound a
wavering D followed by a goose
fart and spitting hamsters.
Progress, at last! Now
back to the lesson. Relax.
I’m nailing this simplicity thing.
* * *
“Bamboo Flute” first appeared in The Larger Geometry: poems for peace, available at Amazon. This anthology of poems that “uplift, encourage and inspire,” features poets from five countries and three continents. Published by the interfaith peaceCENTER of San Antonio, Texas, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. All proceeds from the sale of this anthology go to benefit the peaceCENTER.
I’m pleased to have had a small role in selecting the poems.
Contributing poets include Lynne Burnett, Charlotte Hamrick, Daryl Muranaka, Stephanie L. Harper, Sudhanshu Chopra, Texas Poet Laureate Carol Coffee Reposa, Michael Vecchio, Rebecca Raphael and others.
O at the Edges 
very nice
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Thank you, Beth.
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I love it!
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Thanks, Liz. This was a fun one to write!
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The fun came through, for sure!
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Love it!
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Thanks, Leslie. Alas, I have not improved.
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As long as you keep trying, there is hope.
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I’ve read this one before but WOW what timing to read again today. For the past week plus my husband has been turning a staff into a flute (at the request of our wood-carver friend who will make the already beautiful staff all the more so once Gary finishes fluting it). Not the first flute he’s made, but more challenging in that the wood is softer. Multiple consultations with friend/pro-flute-maker have paid off and now lovely tones come through provided lower holes are firmly covered [when covered at all]. Fascinating to observe/listen through this endeavor – vicarious in most respects, but a personal eagerness for success. Now together we figure out how best to deliver this flute destined for someone we don’t know, but trust will firmly close those lower holes.
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I wouldn’t know where or how to begin turning a staff into a flute. But what a lovely task!
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