Nurtured Ears
by MELISSA COOK
Tonight,
I slumped ‘gainst
our door
-sipping coffee-
Your music
it settled me –
as though you had
taken a paint brush
to my spine and
danced a melody.
a cookie lay –
unattended, swamped
by ants and
sticky thoughts
yet still I sat,
a cooking disaster,
chin dusted
with cocoa and
the thought of a
messy kitchen
escaping my mind.
It was tonight,
I realized your music
was like my poetry
The snare
your own battlefield,
the bass –
your pulse and though
it had knotted my hair
too many times
I was calm.
—
Each time your finger
stumbled from a key
I was reminded of
how “ateleia einai i
omorfia”
and saw your heart
in the shape of a
16th note.
—
and I wished to
write my poetry ‘pon
your skin as
calligraphy but
I never dared
to touch you –
for you were painting
a treble clef against
my rib cage and
tangling yourself
within my scarf.
Greek Translation “ateleia einai i omorfia” – “Imperfection is beauty.”