Nicole Cavalieri, Period 7, 12/1/21

 Modern Mythology, Period 7

Nicole Cavalieri

12/1/21

 

 

In the past few lessons, we have been discussing the Egyptian Book of the Dead, and the ways people think about death. In keeping with that, I have written a poem that deals with some of my feelings regarding death. It does touch on my own experiences with death (although vaguely) so I also want to provide a content warning for grief, loss of loved ones, and funerals. 

 

 

Dynamics

 

I have often heard it said

That life is set to ticking beats

An ever counting metronome

In time with triumphs and defeats 

 

If one strains to hear their rhythm

The blaring drums can hurt one’s ears

Become the dreaded Funeral March

Invoking the oldest of human fears 

 

But I am not a dancer

I cannot move my limbs in time to my internal beat

I am a singer, I harmonize 

With life’s orchestral melody

 

The first time a singer left my choir

I couldn’t hear a frantic percussion

In her absence the song fell flat

And the silence

That was deafening 

 

The next time that I saw her face

Her voice box forever cold and stilled

I was in a hollow cathedral lined 

With tiles built to amplify a chorus

Sung for the ears of God

 

In that acoustically hallowed ground my lonely voice echoed back to me

Composing a cacophonous parody 

Of the arrangement I had always sung

 

And now I hold my choir close

We sing again, though incomplete 

I strain to hear each harmonic line

Because the thing I fear the most is losing that perfect memory

Of the divine sound

Of my completed symphony