every day, to make you
fresh music
using the only two
means that I've got:
those syllables of English
speech which are
stressed,
and those
which are not.
I'll arrange these
small words into
glimmering patterns—
based on the ones
I first learned
(before I knew
how to put on a raincoat
or tie my own shoes)
by memorizing,
then parroting back
the glimmering
fuss of grown-ups.
But in exchange
for all that, I want you
to promise
to take precious care
of my instruments:
the measure
and pitch of the voice
in your head
and the moment-
to-moment endurance
of your breath.
