"Vox Humana"
From a work-in-progress based on photographs taken at Lincoln Cathedral.
Vox humana
listen
carried on the wind
whispered in the reeds
echoed in the chambers of the heart
or carried in the spaces between octaves
a voice
more than vehicles
for translation
interpretation
voices carry meaning
or portents
there is triumph and regret
anguish and joy
notes played on life’s harmonics
andante
lento
fortissimo
a plea
a shout
a wail added to the cacophony
the crescendo of all cries
context is in the orchestration
a reverberating tremolo of pain
undercutting the trumpeting of power
voices drowned out by thundering bass
or later
or before
or elsewhere
the harmonies of celebration
of larks ascending perhaps
are not requiems
but birth or re-birth
eyes opened as valves might be
or organ stops
eyes opened to the potential of the journey
of what might be found or re-found
shared or re-shared
through or beyond a closed window
an unseen choir reaches for heaven
a clarion call wrapped in cello and oboe
yet it is more than music
this purity of voice
it is celebration
a demand
to be heard
I didn’t have to be a musician to understand this. But it helped😊