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Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Etude in Black And White



Everything emanates
from its blackness. The panther springs
and arpeggios follow
a wave. It rises to tower,
a pyramid of alignment.

The void fills with its design.
Runs born in cimmerian caves
reveal traces of lambent light,
freed of stricture, they expand
into luminous energy.

Sound transforms the empty darkness
with ornaments of movement.
Notes ascend from dense minor chords
fly free as positive ions
forming the music of the spheres.

Rising from the depths of Cheops
to illuminate Alnilam.
Blazing center of Orion's belt
births the stars of the universe
wherein the divine source sustains.

© Gay Reiser Cannon - 8.20.13
All Rights Reserved

* correlation of pyramids to the stars in Orion's belt:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orion_correlation_theory

40 comments:

  1. What a beautiful mixture of physics and poetry... and I'm sure there is a piano galaxy out there somewhere.

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  2. now that is some good piano playing. I have no talent, but so love to listen.

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  3. this is lovely music... and I've long had a crush on Orion :)

    i especially love this stanza
    "Sound transforms the empty darkness
    with ornaments of movement.
    Notes ascend from dense minor chords
    fly free as positive ions
    forming the music of the spheres."

    it just sings.

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  4. so you were playing etudes at the piano and make us hear them without hearing them physically...you capture the tunes with your words gay... nevertheless...would love to hear you play someday

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    1. Thanks Claudia. Age is affecting my music making some. I should have found a piano when we first met. Diligently working my Hanon exercises in hopes to strengthen my left hand. But yes the piano reaches out of its dark orchestral box here to join the music of the spheres - every song, every poem sustains in the music of time and space.

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  5. YOur words are brilliant in light..I see the Universe as song of each note working together that makes a song so light and beautiful that we are share as gifts together...All as one...if it is our will to do so..

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  6. this feels so universal and soul-expanding..loved the second stanza especially. wonderful poetic melody you've composed here, Gay, thanks for sharing~

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  7. The piano is like and entire orchestra at your fingertips. Or even the entire universe. Lovely!

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  8. really very beautiful look at space...and the music that runs planet to planet in the orchestra of our universe...i am a geek so it took me right to the opening of star trek...ha

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  9. Love the music and the myth in this wonderful poem, Gay!

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  10. Gorgeous exploration of the swell of music.. very much enjoyed this Gay.

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  11. How divine Gay, I love the birthing of the stars and universe ~ This is something I wish I had written ~

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  12. This is beyond grand fabulous! I felt a lovely tune spreading within me as I read this - it gave me a feeling of gaiety and wonderment. A heaving type of inhale/exhale with the stars.

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  13. So much to like here.

    The cosmic bent of the last verse is too much. Sublime poem.

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  14. I think skyraft meant "too much" as in superb. Which is exactly what this is. I especially enjoyed the first stanza--the panther and the arpeggios. I could see them as musical notations.

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    1. Thank you Victoria for this explanation and for your remarks. I think maybe the "idea" of the poem could be misconstrued and perhaps I didn't weave all the strands into the last stanza but honestly I wrote the poem to the ending. The first word I had in my mind was the word "sustain". Many thanks to everyone for reading and commenting. It is very much appreciated.

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  15. Music is definitely universal.
    Beautiful write. Visual and mystical... just the way I like. :-)

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    1. I'm only glad it made it onto the page. Until noon today, it was just notes, lines, and bit and pieces. So thank you so much!

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  16. The cascading flight of fingers yields the stars. A wonderful exposition.

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  17. when I look at the stars tonight, I expect I'll hear them singing.

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  18. a lovely piece of music filled with the mystery of the universe & the longing for the birth of a song to fill the heavens with sound.

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  19. Ah, what an exquisite exploration of the cosmos and the music sounding in the silence...Beautiful write, Gay! ~jackie~

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  20. Blazing center of Orion's belt
    births the stars of the universe
    wherein the divine source sustains.

    Music can by itself mesmerize one into a trance. You've cleverly blended astronomy and even traces of the occult to create the mysterious feel.It ran on its own steam! Great write Gay!

    Hank

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  21. What a rich poem ~ the image of birth and creations are strong. Excellent write ~ thank you

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  22. Actually, it's not really that occult. New images from Hubble shows a vast "nursery" of stars being formed in Orion (oddly enough they photographed in pastel colors) the actual place of the nursery is more behind the sword than in the belt but I sort of fudged with poetic license there. The other interesting thing is that for whatever reason, many of the pyramids around the world, not only those in Egypt seem to be aligned with the stars in Orion's belt.

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  23. So gorgeous! I feel like an angel free floating in a starry night. TY. "Notes ascend from dense minor chords"...and you bring this to life.

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  24. Orion and his hunter's belt
    Strode the sky then and now.
    The powerful Cheops wished
    To bring the power to earth.

    In a sense he succeeded because we remember him, tho' in another sense he failed.

    Though we know so much more now, the sight of Orion set in a sky full of stars that so few can now see is wonderful. Your poem evokes this so well.

    Lovely poem, thankyou.

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  25. just love panther springs and arpeggios follow...a nice introduction, sounds and feels beautiful. Thank you! :)

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  26. Orion is one of my favorite constellations! I didn't know they lined up with the pyramids--love the flow and ethereal feel of the his poem--this was one of my favorite stanzas:
    Sound transforms the empty darkness
    with ornaments of movement.
    Notes ascend from dense minor chords
    fly free as positive ions
    forming the music of the spheres

    Dense minor chords really resonated with me (no pun intended). ;-)

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  27. Gay, this is just gorgeous. I love the springing panther, and the waves. Yes, I have heard music like this.

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  28. Lovely poem, Gay. I was lucky enough to go to several piano recitals in Carnegie Hall last year - and the sound is like that - the darkness of those minor chords transforming into positive ions - lovely way to look at so many levels. Thanks. k.

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    1. Let me tell you again how jealous I am that you're in NY and still going to the city. I went to the Van Cliburn competitions for many years; but haven't for about the last two or three. Now that I'm back in the metro perhaps I'll get to go to the new Bass Hall. It was so intimate at TCU in the concert hall there sitting with Ann Bass right behind the jury - even a pin drop wasn't tolerated though.

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  29. And with this celestial symphony, all of the ancient gods rise from their thrones and waltz across the midnight stage.

    Beautiful

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    1. Ah, thank you Beth. It is a midnight stage, isn't it - what a nightlife!

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