endings poem # 14
when something catches my breath
on the car radio – WILL these days –
a brandenburg for instance or brahms
variations on a theme by haydn (that
seventh bell-like variation is the one
where if I weren’t driving I’d close
my eyes) sometimes I pull off into a
deserted alley to await the final
cadence delay my arrival wherever
I’m going slow down before green
lights in hopes they’ll turn red and
pause my journey hey am I writing
a metaphor? not so many years
before my own cadence I better find
more alleys to pull into but when
the recapitulation comes and with luck
a coda what better way to switch off
the ignition than drenched in bach?
©2016 Jacqueline Jackson
This article appears in May 12-18, 2016.
