Libby Weber's Blog, page 18

August 23: Call and Response

When music joyfully calls out to us,

It takes a moment for us to perceive

The invitation to respond, and thus

We pause, not wishing to appear naïve.

But with the second call we understand

Just what we are expected to repeat.

It’s both request and cheerful reprimand

That silence makes the music incomplete.

To ask the audience to join the song

Turns passive listener to chorus member.

The phrases are not intricate or long,

And with each repetition, they remember.

So raise your arms and voices when you’re to...

August 22: Acceptance

August 22: Acceptance

The wait between audition and result

Could drive less sanguine people to distraction,

For even if one does well, to exult

Is premature, since knowing just fraction

Of others seeking placement and their skill

Leaves many variables yet undefined.

Though premature analysis may thrill,

It’s won’t affect what parts will be assigned.

Acceptance, when it comes, is pure relief

And pleasure that your wish has been fulfilled,

That’s followed by dismay and disbelief

For those whose choral voic...

August 21: Ultimate

The Rule of Malheur Twelve is simply this:

It can’t be ordered as a final beer,

And if this aphorism you dismiss,

More Malheur Twelve is destined to appear.

So if one buys a bottle for the table

The person who is buying the next round

Consults the bottle list and isn’t able

To find beer more beloved or more renowned.

Thus, when you’re late to join the cheerful crowd,

And all your friends have reached beer saturation,

Someone who asks what beer will leave them wowed

Will send a bottle in appreciation.

The...

August 20: A Sort of Runic Rhyme

For three long nights refurbished bells have rung,

To gather in the teeming congregation.

Enchanting melodies the choir has sung

Above the thrilling tintinnabulation.

In ninteen ninety-six these bells first tolled,

And then again in ninteen ninety-nine,

Having been cast from a Parisian mold,

They spent a dozen years in redesign.

We postulants shall toil lengthy days

That we might justify the keen promotion

And faith in our spectacular display

Of hope and love and personal devotion.

If these first nights...

August 19: Ferguson

I wish that there was something I could say

To staunch this wound that’s bled for ten days now.

Though I’m no doctor, treatments underway

Are ones the reasonable would disallow.

So as we watch in horror as the body

Deteriorates with every “antidote,”

We realize the remedy is shoddy

And loudly question any who promote

This course of physic- it can never heal;

It cannot help the young unjustly dead;

It will not ease the family’s ordeal,

It won’t address injustices widespread.

There’s nothing I can do, this...

August 18: The Bucket List

To raise awareness for a dread disease,
A challenge to pour ice upon one’s head,
(Though not enough to actually freeze)
And post a video online, has spread.

Now social media are inundated
With people getting in on all the fun.
By seeing others we’re manipulated-
What is this? Eighties Nickelodeon?

Though I am tempted to just roll my eyes
Each time another bucket is upended,
I think it rather churlish to chastise:
A gimmickraising millions is quite splendid.

And when the world is battered by unre...

August 17: Trollolol

Norwegian trolls are apt to live in caves

Unmotivated to assist the lost,

Who might escape through terribly close shaves,

Though possibly at quite a heavy cost.

Trolls on the internet make enemies

Of those displaying joy and earnestness.

They’re loath to pass up opportunities

To revel in intemperate address.

And yet the latter troll is aptly named,

Because they do not share the core belief

That content’s not created to be flamed-

Their pleasure comes from turning zeal to grief.

It’s tempting to dismiss...

August 16: String Theory

One hand has but five fingers, yet guitars

Have six strings, and in standard tuning

The intervals aren’t constant, and the barres

Are tough at the first fret, and when you’re crooning

You poor guitar must rest upon your knee,

Which ruins voice support at times you play,

Unless the need for strap you did foresee,

Though fingertips by steel are stripped away.

But if you learn four chords, you hold the key

To rock and tens of thousands other songs

John Denver, Green Day, U2, “Let it Be-”

It makes one toler...

August 15: Thine Own Self

Immortal love to stand the test of time,
A noble heart enslaved by jealousy,
A shining soul draws villains to a crime-
Cathartic Tragedy is just not me.

Usurpers, bastards, questions of succession,
Assassinations, infidelity,
Great speeches, battles, learning painful lessons-
A History? Definitely not me.

Pageants of gods, foul acts demand redemption,
Pastoral themes without mud, dung, or fleas,
Since reunited loves merit exemption-
Am I a Romance? Ha ha ha! No, please.

To human weakness grudgin...

August 14: On My Dog, Whose Needs Are Urgent

O hound whose evening walk was rather early,

Expending patience will do you no harm.

Your bark can’t signal urgent need now, surely-

It’s still ten minutes prior to my alarm.

But as I lie, you come not to my side,

Nor wag and frolic by me when I rise.

Your sleepy stretch and kisses I’m denied,

I pray this lack no accident implies.

No yard have I where you may find relief

Nor doggy door by which you may egress.

For in your brawny bladder I’ve belief,

But feel a twinge of guilt for your distress.

Your happ...