a poem

A cage of sound 09:


GOOD ADVICE

"Beware of repetition, the malignant
dawn, the looming threat of meals
on the dining-room table; resist

the film of her end when you lie down,
every night – get up, refuse. Again and
again, it will not help. Sit down then

at the piano and flee into your fingers.
Translate notes, limit yourself to
a modest review, two measures at most.

Gradually the music consumes you. You slip
through the bars of sound you have raised,
patiently repeating the healing notes."



© 2013, Anna Enquist
From: Een kooi van klank
Publisher: Stichting CPNB & Poetry International, Amsterdam, 2013, 9789059651852

© Translation: 2013, David Colmer
First published on Poetry International