Listen

A lazy afternoon
drifts by
under
full sun

Time ticks
steady
with or without
my assertion

Hopeful leaves
slowly
bursting
discover
full life
imperceptibly

Or so it seems to me as I race along running this marathon at a sprinter’s pace with eyes and mind fixed on the finish line.

Every step
I take
passes by
fullness
of expression
and
becoming

held softly
where
listening ears
might find
that place
of past
and future
forgotten

-BD 5/4/16

I find myself running so much these days. Running from place to place, appointment to appointment, even state to state. Always striving for that next thing. That next gig, that next performance, that next paycheck, that next “whatever” that is always there because of a tendency towards insatiable consumption.
What Wormwood embodies for me is a time to slow down. To sit where I am, be who I am with, and see and hear what is immediately in my present. A note begins and is filled with infinite potential. I must listen to it, see it for what it is right now, and follow the story that it wants to tell. As a Suzuki teacher, I can’t help but think of Dr. Suzuki’s words “Tone has a living soul without form.” Never is this more true than in the act of improvisation. The living soul pours through, unfiltered, and it is our job to listen.