Lucy Hamilton
Cellist
for Mimi
When I speak of how my sister died
my voice flies up with the second violins
edgy as bats in the ceiling-beams
squeaking to be heard but not seen
till you helped me find my cello-self
and master my vibrato
so I can be a soloist
and focus on my Janus faces:
one performing to the audience
while the other stares inwardly
down to the nest in my belly
where a bittern booms
its bill reaching up
towards the huge Norfolk sky
and in my split-mind’s eye
I see one hand lying still
upon my breathing ribs
while the other draws
my pitch and rhythm wide
across my hips.
my voice flies up with the second violins
edgy as bats in the ceiling-beams
squeaking to be heard but not seen
till you helped me find my cello-self
and master my vibrato
so I can be a soloist
and focus on my Janus faces:
one performing to the audience
while the other stares inwardly
down to the nest in my belly
where a bittern booms
its bill reaching up
towards the huge Norfolk sky
and in my split-mind’s eye
I see one hand lying still
upon my breathing ribs
while the other draws
my pitch and rhythm wide
across my hips.
Lucy Hamilton started writing poetry when she joined the Poetry School in 1998. Her long sequence, Being with Annette, was commended in the Scintilla Open Poetry Competition 2002.
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