PAD Day 22: Sonata for Distracted Poet

Today's dual prompts form Poetic Asides and NaPoWriMo: (1) Write a "correspondence" poem, and (2) write apoem that engages with another art form. After struggling all day to find some inspiration, I finally came up with this, ironically, while trying to write during a music lesson. This is for my favorite flute student - you know who you are.

To a Young Musician

Dear Student,

I sit in the next room during your lesson

trying to come up with a poem

while you and your teacher distract me

with a flute duet by Kuhlau.

The two disciplines seem to clash -

your weaving arpeggios slide up against

my thumping iambics, till finally I give up

and let the music seduce me. I sink into

the couch's soft cushions, my notebook

lies open on my lap, my hand

relaxes and drops my pen to the floor.

There will be no poem this evening,

but I am still nourished, not from

the satisfaction of cobbling words together,

but from notes already composed,

perfectly read, and swirling in from the study

on a spring breeze. Thank you for the respite.

Thank you for your exquisite art.

Yours,

An Admirer