As if to break the fingers of my hand
Or the keys on which they pound,
I wrench a Koelling storm of notes
From the hapless piano.
Slamming out a bit of 1812,
Or Listz’ Hungarian Rhapsody
Instead of slamming doors
And breaking glass,
My fingers scream
My unspoken helpless rage.
“Yes,” I say when asked,
“Fortissimo is required –
See the double f’s?”
Pointing to where they are
Quite clearly marked.
The minutes pass,
While the neighbor’s windows shiver
From the tempest’s blast,
With errors,
(Not played with accuracy)
By fingers too angry to be true.
Till at last, a slightly lighter sound
As mezzoforte is found
And played as it is meant to be.
Then sheer force is abandoned
For the drama of the Harbanera,
The pulsing rhythm of an Ellmenrich,
A Ballade by Burgenmuller.
Softer, sweeter, slower notes sound
To ease the air
So savagely disturbed.
And then I, too, am subtly changed
The lightning flares fading from my eyes
In the way a lullaby woos a cranky child.
The desire to strike eases
Into a desire to please.
My heart once choked with thorns
And dark with rage
Has learned to sing again.
AUTHOR NOTES
GLASS RAIN—the poetry by Margaret Roxby
“NIRVANA” is included this week for the National Day of Unplugging, March 6. As a young woman, the author researched many religions including Bhuddism. She shared her interest in this teaching with her then very young daughter making a lasting impression on her.
REFRACTIONS—a by Robert Roxby
“EMMA” was written about a personal friend the author came to know through his own work at the local Senior Center. It first appeared in his anthology, Reflections on a Lifetime. It is included because March is Women’s History Month.
THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS—the poetry of Kathleen Roxby
“THE OLD MAN’S HARVEST” is included this week for National Good Samaritan Day, March 14. The poem was inspired by several films about drought and conflict.
SPLINTERS FOR MARCH 2023
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Readers who write in response to one of the prompts listed each month in Splintered Glass, may see their work presented here on the last week of that month. Though poems are preferred, short prose work will also be considered for publication.
Guidelines for submission:
A LITTLE TRANSCENDING MELODY
As if to break the fingers of my hand
Or the keys on which they pound,
I wrench a Koelling storm of notes
From the hapless piano.
Slamming out a bit of 1812,
Or Listz’ Hungarian Rhapsody
Instead of slamming doors
And breaking glass,
My fingers scream
My unspoken helpless rage.
“Yes,” I say when asked,
“Fortissimo is required –
See the double f’s?”
Pointing to where they are
Quite clearly marked.
The minutes pass,
While the neighbor’s windows shiver
From the tempest’s blast,
With errors,
(Not played with accuracy)
By fingers too angry to be true.
Till at last, a slightly lighter sound
As mezzoforte is found
And played as it is meant to be.
Then sheer force is abandoned
For the drama of the Harbanera,
The pulsing rhythm of an Ellmenrich,
A Ballade by Burgenmuller.
Softer, sweeter, slower notes sound
To ease the air
So savagely disturbed.
And then I, too, am subtly changed
The lightning flares fading from my eyes
In the way a lullaby woos a cranky child.
The desire to strike eases
Into a desire to please.
My heart once choked with thorns
And dark with rage
Has learned to sing again.
MELPOMENE’S SINGING PLACE
A lake,
Deep, dark…
Bordered
By low-hanging trees.
Boughs,
Rippling the waters
Flown
By a late-night breeze.
Fading stars foretell the coming
The dawn.
A dying moon-bird hovers.
Dryads call from woodland homes
Good-bye
To their naiad lovers.
Here,
Here Melpomene comes to sing
And through the forest about her ring
Her melancholy tales.
NOT PROS AND CONS, JUST “CON” CONFUSION
Here’s a problem: if you stress the second syllable of “confines” (con – FINES), it is a verb meaning restricts. If you stress the first syllable (CON – fines) it refers to a physical location like a prison and is a noun. English is full of such words. On the page, they look the same, but the meaning is different.
Even worse, this situation appears to be a rather arbitrary pattern in the language. For example, the word “defines” is similar to “confines,” but it does not change meaning if you change the stress from one syllable to the other.
Hmm, maybe it is an idiosyncrasy unique to the prefix “con?” I ask this because the same thing happens with other words beginning with this prefix. Stressing the first syllable “content” (CON-tent) makes it a noun for which “substance” is a synonym. The other pronunciation (con-TENT) turns it into either an adjective which is a synonym for “untroubled” or a verb which is a synonym for “ soothe.”
CON-test is a competition, but con-TEST is the action of vying to win that CON-test. Likewise, CON-vict is a criminal and con-VICT is the action which found the person guilty. And another one: con-DUCT is the action of guiding or leading, while CON-duct is the noun and synonym for behavior. The list grows longer with “conflict.” Where two or more things or people con-FLICT (verb), a CON-flict (noun) will exist.
But once again English refuses to be pinned down. It makes no difference changing syllable stresses for the words “consist,” “confuse,” “conclude,” “confer” or “condemn,” among others. However, if you should stress the first syllable of any of these words, a native speaker might decide you are speaking with a dialect or are simply new to English.
Why do English speakers do this? I wish I could offer some help with this issue, but it is just another example of how we twist our language to suit our whims and needs. Of course, I could be very wrong. Wiser students of language might know. I refer you to them.
AUTHOR NOTES
GLASS RAIN—the poetry by Margaret Roxby
“MELPOMENE’S SINGING PLACE” is appropriate for this week’s Music Therapy Day, March 1. Melpomene was always the Greek muse of song. After the rise of Greek theater, she also became associated with tragedy. The poem reflects the author’s fondness for the stories of Greek and Roman mythology. Found among the author’s papers, this verse (newly edited for this release) was possibly written while the author was a teenager mourning the loss of her father.
KALEIDOSCOPE—a series by Kathleen Roxby
“NOT PROS AND CONS, JUST CON CONFUSION” is another in the author’s essays on the idioscyncasies of the English language. The essay is included this week for National Grammar Day, March 1.
THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS—the poetry of Kathleen Roxby
“A LITTLE TRANSCENDING MELODY” describes one way the author coped with aspects of her depression as a teenager. It is included this week for March 1, World Music Therapy Day.
SPLINTERS FOR FEBRUARY 2023
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Readers who write in response to one of the prompts listed each month in Splintered Glass, may see their work presented here on the last week of that month. Though poems are preferred, short prose work will also be considered for publication.
Guidelines for submission:
BLESS YOU
Bless you
For your bright eyes
That greet my morning
And urge me from my bed
Bless you
For your dancing feet
Making me laugh
When I have forgotten
I know how
Bless you
For your begging eyes
Guilting me outside
To breathe in nature
And the joy of life
Bless you
For your gentle touch
Your head leaning in
Reminding me
I am not abandoned
Not alone
Bless you
My rescue
My sweet dog