Transcendence by Nancy Schatz Alton
I want to go out drumming
to be a drummer & hold the beat
for the band.
I want to be the one
smiling, counting, holding the pulse
deep in my body.
I watch the drummers:
they hold the fun, the glee,
their bodies sway.
The trumpeters, the trombonists,
the clarinetists, the flutists,
they hold the beat in their feet.
I watch their feet,
remember trying to catch the beat
in my clarinet feet
but the beat got away from me.
I gave it to drummers
who hold the glee.
I watch the drummers.
They take me for a ride.
I want to go out drumming.
I want to hold the rhythm in my body,
sway & count without thought.
Focus all my thought
on the count: 1-2-3-4.
To hold the count.
To be the pulse.
To be the big sound:
the joy that vibrates the wooden pews
that lifts everyone up out of their seats
dancing even as we appear to be sitting
we are dancing.
We watch the drummers:
their smiles, their sway, their beat
transfers to us.
Their glee is our glee.
I want to go out dancing.
Their rhythm: my joy.
No thought: all sound
from the ground
to the sky.
Rip the roof off
from in to out
until the beat
carries us
everywhere
one pulse
one count
connects us
in glorious sound.
I want to be the drummer drumming.
I really enjoyed being able to see the percussionists last night. It was certainly fun, and the Bartok piece was particularly fun to watch and listen to. I regret not being a band geek in high school.
watching the drummers is my fav part of those concerts. Although the last two songs that the choirs sang were also my favorite. I was a band geek, but I stopped practicing in high school, really in band to be with my friends. Chris talked about his regret about not being in band or choir for the entire ride home. That’s the weird thing about raising kids. You see what you missed, and then have to forcibly remember all that you did receive. And all the joy that comes from watching the band now. That band director: amazing. I will miss it. One more year of watching the drummers drumming.