Storm-Vivaldi Electric Violinist-Kate Chruscicka
She sets up outside M&S,
feeds in backing tape,
cradles violin (it’s electric!)
and Vivaldi
fills the street with wondrous sounds,
I have to stop and lean against a welcome wall
as the beauty of her music drowns
whatever sorrow’s left in me,
choked (with the beauty of it)
silent tears evoked
slip softly down my cheeks…
It is our first day in the city,
skies hued in grey,
drizzle dampens random spirits,
we take shelter, wait for him,
shaded under green canopy
yearn promised sun.
I love street life, street cafés,
‘people watch’ as we sip coffee,
nibble rocky mountain cake
and talk of love, eyes questioning.
She plays Handel now…
(I become distracted with it.)
We are glad he arranged the meet here;
we can inhale and share our sin.
‘Is it possible to love our children differently
yet of equal worth?’ we ponder…
We hear his welcome voice
boom over city sounds,
faces split into ecstatic grins
as we hug, slap backs, cheek kiss,
wonder at the change in him.
‘This is what life is all about,
good friends, good food and bonhomie,’
he says as he taps rollie on the tin
and we reminisce of uni days
and of his once fine physique
now showing girth of gastronomy,
grey wisps’ fly madly
from bushy beard and shock of hair.
He lights up his cigarette
‘The students make this city’ he declares
and suddenly aware of street melodies
gasps
‘God that is bloody wonderful!’
(She is at The Proms now
’And did those feet’ (Jerusalem)
fills the street,
lights up passing hearts…)
We listen for a good long while
(we are all filled with her)
and then he with beaming smile
starts to converse again
and we chat of times gone by
and what we’re doing now
and how life sometimes flings
out cruel blows
and he now relents,
opens up his heart and soul,
tears flood his eyes
as he finally talks about his wife…
(‘
now scents the mourning air
as if to share our melancholy...)
Distraught for him
(and muddling in our own lives),
tears flow deep from all of us.
‘If we could somehow know’ he chokes
‘what fate has in store for us,
would we be afraid to fall in love?’
Anna :o]
A good friend and I recently met up with an old chum (we hadn’t seen for many moons) in the northern city of
It was a wonderful, emotionally charged reunion and allowed him to release some of his pent-up emotions and for that, he realised and appreciated that the wonderful music of Kate Chruscicka had played a part as she opened up the very heart and souls of all of us.
Totally enamoured with Kate and her music I invested in a CD and googled her when I returned home. Number two son listened when visiting and took her CD home with him. The joy she brings is spreading…
A special thank-you to my two excellent friends for their kind permission to allow this post.
Shared and linked to the good folk at dVerse - hosted by the lovey Joy aka Hedgewitch
29 comments:
nice....really cool scene....i like the music and how it moves into and out of the scene and sets some of the mood...good your friend was able to release the emotion, those reunions can be a bit scary honestly...lots of ground to make up...but glad you are there for him....i think too if we knew the truth of love it might make us play a bit more careful with it...
Sounds like a wonderful reunion. I bet it was as if no time had passed since you last saw each other. I understand the wondering of if a person knew what fate had in store would one fall in love? I would say YES....even if there is the eventual pain (ie death) there are the beautiful memories that will live on despite the loss.
Well done, Anna! I love how you painted the scene, and backed it with the music of this incredible violinist (I'd never heard of an electric violin). As I read about your friend, I knew him to be someone who lives with great gusto. I'm not surprised that he would face the loss of his beloved with equal gusto.
oh wow...would've loved to listen to her as well, playing in the street...love how you wove the reunion and her music together in the poem...very moving..i like much
This is such a beautiful poem. You work in the music in such a measured but powerful way - of course, it complements all, but never feels forced, and your descriptions and the dialogue also cut in like parts of a fugure. Really well done. k.
A beautiful scene perfectly described. And the ending was excellent.
I'm so taken Anna! Moments to be shared of joys and sorrow would be better remembered. Wonderful friends are a rarity! Nicely!
Hank
Wow! This is fantastic, Anna. Such a well told story, and the music pulsing its heartbeat into the thread of it is wonderfully done. Bravo!
Lovely, just lovely! I was right there whilst reading :)
Wow - I love when art and real-life experience inspire another form of art. You've captured the night you witnessed -- the people, the music, the emotion -- so vividly I feel like I was there.
this gives great account: i recently attended a reunion
which ended in a fist-fight
so your version is a treat . . .
thank you for the musical introduction too . . . my next move shall be amazon via youtube.
all the best
arron
Thanks for your kind comments folks.
Despite the sadness associated with the reunion it was indeed a wonderful thing. A friendship recaptured and it was as if we had only met yesterday and not for many moons. Kate’s music uplifted us all (as well as allowing our sadness) and never before has a single individual made a city so beautiful…
Anna :o]
this was really very good. Great use of parenthetical throughout, I'm a sucker for them, so always point out in my comments when they're used well. Excellent piece. Thanks
Love this...as the beauty of her music drowns
whatever sorrow’s left in me...beautiful poem. Glad you got to have this reunion. :)
Dynamic and so personal. Loved the interspersed comments about the music (I've been hipped to electric fiddle for some time, and the classical applications are great - also bluegrass). Thanks for the explanation about why you were meeting, although the shared tears seemed to indicate the loss. Lovely scene, despite the mourning. To life! L'chaim! Peace, Amy
http://sharplittlepencil.com/2012/10/02/playing-bongos-in-topanga-canyon/
This works beautifully. The construction is seamless and the interest never flags.
What a wonderful, very touching post. Thank you for sharing this very personal experience in such an artful way. And best wishes to your friend.
She's a fine performer, wow!
Touching narrative piece... drawn into the reunion and the surroundings.. great descriptors. And this -
‘Is it possible to love our children differently
yet of equal worth?’
last time I saw it I didn't know.. now (still childless) I'm pretty sure the answer is 'Yes'.
Simply beautiful -- everything, your words, the music, the sentiment of reuniting.
Thank you!
This is truly lovely ... so vibrant with life, promise, aging, love and sadness. There is such a fulness to this wonderful poem.
All of it, lovely.
music, words and sentiments.
Thank-you so much for your kind comments folks.
Anna :o]
Hi Anna .. what a great cathartic suggestion and I'm so pleased your friend obviously had some release, yet some of those extra reminiscences ...
Just brilliant to know you have friends who can help friends .. I'm so pleased you caught up.
Then Kate's music .. amazing - and now you've spread her name and talent across to us - loved the video and her playing..
Thanks for sharing and poignantly painting the story for us .. Hilary
Thanks Hilary.
Real friendships are something to be treasured for they are precious.
Real friendships exist beyond time - no need to see each other daily for the magic remains between meetings.
And Kate added to that magic...
Anna :o]
Anna,a lovely post and a wonderful evocation of the spirit of true friendship that transcends the ordinary and the temporary. Your poem is beautiful!
Kate is to be commended. She plays with passion and fire and wishes to make Vivaldi's her own, in her own way. Music (and its appreciation) is such an individual thing and we each pass through phases. As we live, our tastes become more well defined, but they are also so much coloured by our individual life experience.
A piece that made us emotional and that we once cried to becomes a hated thing, or with the passage of time a neutral piece of muzak... Other pieces stay with us for the rest of our lives and are part and parcel of who we are.
One of the most frustrating things for me was sometimes finding that such a favourite piece, a lifetime favourite fails to move a dear person in my life. I now find that I am much more understanding and respectful of such a personal thing as musical taste...
Anna! What a treat to hear the music while reading your account of the reunion... tears came to me too.
Wonderful poem and great video to match :)
Your kind comments are most welcome folks (and thank-you).
Anna :o]
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