“Nocturne: On Mahler's 9th”

It is as Walter Pater said

all art aspires to the condition of music

wherein form versus content

cannot be distinguished

the music begins anywhere

a note plucked from the wilderness

an aura overheard

the flight of a luna moth

the moon appears in my window

as a beautiful stranger

whose mood I cannot guess

resplendent in her solitude

the biergardens of Vienna

are no less lovely than the Tuilleries

but their shadows are deeper

and not as forgiving

an inventory of losses

reveals a cupboard nearly bare

sorrow casts a blue shadow

comes the hour of the mouse

clouds drift with the night sky

jacaranda blossoms in the darkness

the heavens align

and move counter-clockwise

– Frederick Smock | Jan. 3, 2022