Judith Duvall’s poetry and fiction have appeared in three anthologies from the Knoxville Writers’ Guild—Bleeding Hearts, Familiar Landscapes, and A Tapestry of Voices—among other publications. A graduate of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, she lives near English Mountain and the shores of Douglas Lake in Jefferson County, Tennessee.
Evensong
When she drew the bow across
her cello’s strings, deep sensuous notes
wrapped sultry summer evenings
like slow waves against a parched shore.
Melodies of dreams opened our ears and hearts
to joy long displaced by the sacrifice
of hard times. From the voices
of music greater than the fear of war came
the love and hope of Schroeder, Schuster,
Bach, and Paganini in scale and form known
to few but loved by all. In the gloaming’s glow,
we sat on porches, stoops, and curbs letting music
birthed in hearts and minds of nations now gone
insane remind of something greater than
any evil scheme mere humans might employ.
Lillian Chaney, born plain, crippled of foot,
played her stirring solo concerts to a village
audience of every age who loved her
for the peaceful hope she brought them in
the language none would ever destroy.
Copyright (c) 2016 by Judith Duvall. All rights reserved.
Tagged: Poetry
