Here Comes Treble: A Gem From The Past
Isabel Bradley writes a joy-filled poem as a tribute to the instrument that makes her life very special - the flute.
All week, I worried… what to write about in the next “Here Comes Treble”? My mind was filled with that dreaded ‘writer’s block’. The harder I thought, the emptier my brain became. A good exercise in meditation, perhaps, but it wasn’t helping me.
Then I decided it was time to be practical and do some filing, rather than sit staring blankly at the walls. And while searching for a missing document, I came across a letter from the editor of the FLUFSA Magazine (now defunct). The acronym was from the ‘FLUte Federation of South Africa’, and I wrote for them on a monthly basis. I had, apparently, sent them an ‘imaginative article’ which they felt would work better as a poem. It’s always a good idea to turn to my joy and passion when I write, so here is the resulting poem:
“I am a Flute”
Lips breathe across my mouth,
Another’s breath
breathes life
Into my long,
Smooth body.
I quiver in anticipation
As warmth flows into me;
Ripples of light move inside me
As fingers caress my keys;
Vibrations of air,
Of round, dark sound,
Thrill from my lowest notes.
Sorrow pours its tears into me.
The light moves,
Changes,
Gleams inside my silver:
Joy flies and dances from my keys
Jumps in starbursts of light
And singing
Inside me –
In the air around me.
Sound, silver and gold,
Or darkly gleaming,
Flows through my vibrating body.
Through a shifting kaleidoscope
Of light and dark,
I laugh,
I sing –
I sob.
Sometimes I sing alone,
At others my voice blends in bliss
With the songs of others –
The same, but different…
I am – but I live only
Through the breath,
The touch,
The life,
The passion,
Of another.
This tribute to my instrument, written in 1994, epitomises the release of emotion, the passion and the pleasure which still pour through it every time I pick up its long, smooth body…
Until next time…. ‘here comes Treble!’
© Copyright Reserved
by Isabel Bradley
