Kingsbrae 2.2
2 June 2017
The Red Room
Carlos makes music on his flute.
He lives in the Green Room,
an open door opposite mine.
He creates the highest note of all
and it floats before me in the air,
a trapeze artist caught in a sunbeam,
suspended between the hands
that fling and those that catch.
His musical rhythms are different.
I try to follow his fingering.
In the space between notes,
hummingbirds flash their ruby
throats as they flit between flowers.
With a whirring of wings, all music
stops, save for the robin’s song
refreshing the early summer
with the sound of his eternal joy.
Journal: As I unpack my bags and start to settle in and arrange the room to my own liking, Carlos who will stay in the room opposite mine, starts to play his flute. I listen to the notes and, as I am listening, a robin joins in the song. I rest for a moment and sit at the small writing desk by one of the windows. From here I can see white clouds floating their ice-berg shapes across a sea-blue sky. Beneath them, Passamaquoddy Bay sparkles and crackles with filtered sunshine.
My mind goes back to another, more desperate time, two years ago, when I sat by the hospice window in Moncton and looked out at the car park. My car sat out there, abandoned, lonely, waiting to take me home for the welcome respite of a weekend free from radiation and treatments. Now, looking out of the window towards Minister Island, I feel as if I belong, as if this place had been waiting a long time for me to arrive and bear witness to it. I feel deep inside me the joy I feel when I walk in the door and enter the warmth of my own family and home.
Roger that is beautiful. It sounds like lovely spot and to have music waft across the hall from you must be a delight!
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Thank you, Meghan. We are having a wonderfully creative time. Carlos and I did a voice recording of Yellow Bird this morning and we plan to do several more poems over the next few weeks. We’ll also put some to music and that will be very special. We are working on that!
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Ah! That sounds grand! So glad you’re enjoying your time!
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I think dt u r at kingsbrae ( a place of artwork situated in France.true or not.plz reply)
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Kingsbrae is t St. Andrews-by-the-sea in New Brunswick, Canada. It is a small seaside town with a large artistic community.
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Dear roger!!!carlos’s music of his green room has changed ur heart as red room.lovely.
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I like this one, too. We may put it to music.
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Hi Roger. Your poem captures the odd, sort of empty feeling of settling in for the first time. Also brings back memories of working late at Dalhousie and the notes of the flute from a colleague taking a break in the hall near our offices.
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Thanks, Jane. The music is haunting and takes me away to different places. Really enjoying both my stay and the writing space.
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Kingsbrae2.2 reveals the inspiration a new fresh setting gives you, Roger. Well Done! The imagery that transports you from words to music are wonderful to witness. Play on! Your West Coast friend, Chuck
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Good morning, Chuck. Thanks or following me on this journey, especially when you are so involved in your own. Indeed, my words and my world are changing. We’ll see where these new-found rhythms lead.
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