and in describing
what was lost
at Brightwood Music
many of the words are the same
as if I were to be describing
human anatomy
for imagine
the whittled necks of violins
the shining sanded bodies
of the guitars
the tremolo arms of
some punk’s future electric noise
and in this elegy
in naming what is gone
I am realizing that in fact
a musical instrument
is a sort of appendage
one which we use to make real
all the sounds of our soul
a more apt translator of emotion
than our own mouths
oh what a thing we have done
in inventing such a tool
such a sacred limb
and what a thing to devote
a life a store a career
so many practiced hours
to such a craft
for there is a song in everything
just waiting to be let out
there is a song even in the flames
imagine how it sounded
as the wood warped
as the strings snapped
one by one
I wonder what chords were played
by the fire
what needed to be translated
and what will be
by those of us who remain
to make music yet
I wonder what songs
we will sing of this burning
and what songs
will be born from the ash
for surely there will be many
and in this Brightwood Music
what it stands for
what it sold
the potential for music
held in each instrument
remains
and waits only for us
to sing again

Alexander Shalom Joseph is an award-winning poet, writer and playwright from Gilpin County, and is the author of seven published books. You can find his work and more information about him at www.alexandershalomjoseph.com.