Elinor Ann Walker
Song for Cello & Girlhood
I rest my thoughts on the idea of your slender neck,
think of words that don’t caress:
violent, vitriol, until I get
to violet, purpling to faded armchair
velvet, viol of the arm, low
notes rendered—no wolf tone howl but such sounds
your hollow body makes—mellifluous,
through ribs & catgut and shapes that draw air,
so that I, listening, forget to breathe
until my lungs take in what’s trembling through
an open window at twilight just when
the coyotes offer their vibrato
& bravado: a girl two doors over
practicing for high school orchestra,
filling the air with her broken chords,
sighing September, as she drags her bow
across strings, solo—the perfect wail
of being seventeen, & I want to save her.
I rest my thoughts on the idea of your slender neck,
think of words that don’t caress:
violent, vitriol, until I get
to violet, purpling to faded armchair
velvet, viol of the arm, low
notes rendered—no wolf tone howl but such sounds
your hollow body makes—mellifluous,
through ribs & catgut and shapes that draw air,
so that I, listening, forget to breathe
until my lungs take in what’s trembling through
an open window at twilight just when
the coyotes offer their vibrato
& bravado: a girl two doors over
practicing for high school orchestra,
filling the air with her broken chords,
sighing September, as she drags her bow
across strings, solo—the perfect wail
of being seventeen, & I want to save her.
Fugue State
She plays in the key of forgetting. Forgetting, she loses locale, landmarks. Landmarks wander in her
mind. Her mind becomes an antic character. An antic character will wonder. Wonder is the
destination, unmapped. Unmapped, her trip takes an unexpected turn. Turn loops past the gas station
& church. Church reminds her of repentance, an altar. An altar takes shape in her mind like matter.
Matter becomes quark, atom, & particle. Particle reminds her of clavicle. Clavicle curves, a bone at the
base of throat. Throat opens to voice & air & words. Words may lie because nothing is as it seems. It
seems that she is losing her mind. Her mind rounds a corner and runs into a door. A door swings,
creaking, hinges into the cerebellum. The cerebellum rests under occipital & temporal. Temporal
suggests time, which the eye meets, open. Open, she tiptoes in the vestibular corridors, hearing chimes.
Chimes say the clock strikes down the hall. The hall is the vestibule where she waits for language.
Language bears the thrum that she cups in her hands. Her hands open & memories fly out like birds.
Birds always know where they are going. Going, she hangs her sorrows on a hook in the hall where
they jangle, like keys, until she returns.
She plays in the key of forgetting. Forgetting, she loses locale, landmarks. Landmarks wander in her
mind. Her mind becomes an antic character. An antic character will wonder. Wonder is the
destination, unmapped. Unmapped, her trip takes an unexpected turn. Turn loops past the gas station
& church. Church reminds her of repentance, an altar. An altar takes shape in her mind like matter.
Matter becomes quark, atom, & particle. Particle reminds her of clavicle. Clavicle curves, a bone at the
base of throat. Throat opens to voice & air & words. Words may lie because nothing is as it seems. It
seems that she is losing her mind. Her mind rounds a corner and runs into a door. A door swings,
creaking, hinges into the cerebellum. The cerebellum rests under occipital & temporal. Temporal
suggests time, which the eye meets, open. Open, she tiptoes in the vestibular corridors, hearing chimes.
Chimes say the clock strikes down the hall. The hall is the vestibule where she waits for language.
Language bears the thrum that she cups in her hands. Her hands open & memories fly out like birds.
Birds always know where they are going. Going, she hangs her sorrows on a hook in the hall where
they jangle, like keys, until she returns.
--
Elinor Ann Walker’s recent poetry, flash fiction, and creative non-fiction are featured or forthcoming in Bracken, Cherry Tree, Feral, Gone Lawn, Hayden’s Ferry Review, Northwest Review, Pidgeonholes, Plume, Ruby, The Southern Review, Whale Road Review, and elsewhere. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, lives with her husband and two dogs near the mountains, and prefers to write outside.
Elinor Ann Walker’s recent poetry, flash fiction, and creative non-fiction are featured or forthcoming in Bracken, Cherry Tree, Feral, Gone Lawn, Hayden’s Ferry Review, Northwest Review, Pidgeonholes, Plume, Ruby, The Southern Review, Whale Road Review, and elsewhere. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, lives with her husband and two dogs near the mountains, and prefers to write outside.