And the word flew
from the lips of love,
and this was the first note,
and it rang through the heavens,
calling all the lost notes to it,
all the sharps, flats and naturals
that yearned to connect one to the other,
and so the souls were born
who would sing those notes,
whose very bodies would vibrate
with their own celestial pitch,
and each note sang to the next
in harmony and con amore,
soprano, tenor, bass and alto
until as one they grew
into figures, bars, phrases,
into a chorus,
leaping, lamenting, loving
the interplay of note on note,
and the melody erupted
into a canticle,
into a song of songs
that filled the heavens,
and still it grew,
and so you were born.
And then the great silence fell,
as each note was damped,
was made to sing another’s note,
and the melody diminished
as the notes became a monotone,
and even the word itself was silenced.
And so the joyless time began
when each note was quieted,
forgot it could ever sing,
forgot how to break the silence
until one day one came
who started to sing again
– one lone note
singing out over the deserts and the barren lands,
singing out over the grey-starred darkness,
singing not just with their lips
but with their whole being,
holding their note’s pitch
as they breathed in and breathed out,
sounding their note, no matter the cold winds
or the silence answering back,
waiting, waiting,
for another to sing,
until another sang out,
and one note became two,
and slowly the sound spread
across the silenced land,
and a song began to build,
and the rhythm awakened the earth,
and the birds joined in,
and the angels sang out,
and so you were reborn.
Will you sing?
Will you sing to me
of love lost and love found?
Will you sing
of each simple moment
alive with your rhythm
until my body vibrates in harmony
and a note pours from me,
and as I sing and you sing
and the word re-enters my heart,
my heart vibrates with love,
and love asks me,
Will you sing?
Deirdre Cartmill has published three poetry collections - The Wind Stills to Listen (Arlen House), The Return of the Buffalo (Lagan Press) and Midnight Solo (Lagan Press). Her fourth collection is forthcoming. This poem was inspired by her time as Writer-in-Residence for Belfast Cathedral. www.deirdrecartmill.com