For seemingly no legitimate purpose, my AVID teacher assigned the entire sophomore class at our school a most peculiar assignment: to write a love poem to ourselves. Although this is one of the most ridiculous assignments I have ever gotten for this “college prep” class, I have to admit I didn’t mind this one too much.
Anyway, the reason why we had to write the poem to ourselves was because we would supposedly be “more honest” in writing the poem. That is theoretically very true: my teacher will undoubtedly be reading about 125 poems full of self-hate, anxiety, and low (if any) self-esteem. Having absolutely no aesthetic features of myself which I am particularly proud of (much less “in love with”), I decided to compare myself with the Chopin nocturne I recently learned and performed at a piano recital.
A motif, nothing more
The same thing, over and over
The same story, the same mistakes
A phrase, with a beginning and an end
A plane lifting for take-off
But lacking enough wind to fly through the air
An unprecedented accent
Unusually louder than the others,
The mistake worsened by the attempt to cover it
But soft! Listen close
Hear the bass, steady and determined
Hear the melody, slowly and carefully crafted
Hear the pauses? Hear the waits?
First hesitation, then melodic sorrows
Repeated disappointments melt into graceful ends
Hear that crescendo! Sforzando, booming!
Passionate fury, justified rage--
Faster, louder, and without fear
Pressing on in a way that's almost spiritual
An existing oxymoron: both reliable and fluid
Detached from the world, longing only for home
You are the manifestation of Chopin's Nocturne.
I realize that most of this work probably went over the heads of most people. I mean, you can’t really get the comparison unless you have studied this nocturne in detail, but that’s mostly my fault.
Much of the imagery (in fact, the whole idea that I’m a musical person) should be credited to my piano teacher. I kid you not, listening to him during lessons is like listening to refined poetry. The man breaths metaphors.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this. I’d post a link to my favorite performance of this nocturne on Youtube, but at the moment I don’t have internet access. Instead, please follow these instructions:
1. Go to YouTube!
2. Type in: Yundi Li Chopin Nocturne 9
3. Click on the video.
4. Enter a state of euphoria.
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