Monday, May 1, 2017

CHORUS FOR LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA

I know
it takes
too long

for the
cool part
to come. I know

it feels scary
and protracted. But
trust me, some-

body's
got to
do it—because I think,

invariably, it's like:
each little voice,
(pretty but meek)

is sort of predestined
to meet and marry
and mimic

a specific partner—
and this melding
keeps happening

over and again
until eventually,
we no longer

know whether
the whole group
is singing

one guy's idea,
or whether
each person

just happens
to be singing the same
inevitable vocal line.

One thing's
for sure, though—
revolutions

are never personal.
There's no solo singers—
and they're never over

in under four
minutes (including
intros and outros).

These sorts of refrains
are less popular
than they are

outright contagious.
Outrage is cheap.
Breathing free is costly;

they're infectious—but
like poliovirus,
not like some

catchy-enough
cough of a
pop song.