Plainsong by Sheila E. Murphy

In “Fan-

fare for

the Common

Man,” Copland

simplifies

breath

as intellect,

obedient to

indelible

independence.

Thorough

as Thoreau

a throw rug

close to fire’s

all quiet

sanctity.

Assembly

elocutes

environment,

ensemble’s pure

plus one.

Entonces

rinses

inadvertent

light.

I tense

In prox

to requisite

reed’s straight-

edge,

take back

th’unsaid

allegiance

to curfew-free

belonging.

Rest collocates

formal silence,

a repetitive

space b-

locking

harmonic leaps.

Even the sleeping

Olympics

chafes cadenzas,

thus

accounts for

posture’s prosthetic

lurch

attributed to

brass insurgency.

Blank field

endows in-formation

retro- rhythmic

physicality

of dance

aloud,

conceptual

as grief.

If Secretariat

were lithe as

“The Blue Danube,”

Tal Wilkenfeld

would reach

the registers

beneath

gravitas.

Indulgence.

lorikeets

Gershwin’s

southerly

relaxed

young derivation,

modifies

melodic sumo

glyphs.

Drums give me

correspondence

with wish-

bone

styled

as Sanctus

of a New York

minuet.

Author bio: 

Sheila Murphy's most recent book-length publications feature collaborative visual poetry: Yes It Is (with John M. Bennett), Luna Bisonte Prods. 2014, and 2 Juries + 2 Storeys = 4 Stories Toujours (with K.S. Ernst), Xerolage 55 from Xexoxial Editions. 2013. To learn more about Sheila Murphy, please visit her Wikipedia page: Sheila Murphy.