The Wrinkle

This episode in his life
      Was the wrinkle in the tale
That altered his trajectory,
      And sent him off
On a new journey.

Not unlike a song on the radio
      Whose architecture
Calls for the singer to drone on in a low register
      For the first two stanzas,
Only mildly raise excitement in the chorus

Then, all of a sudden,
      As if by surprise,
Although we should have known its explosion
      Had been foretold
            Embedded in the brew
      Of chord progressions
                  And note juxtoposition
In those first two stanzas,

Still, now with a dramatic key change,
      The drone is replaced
            By a singer possessed,
      Inspired,
                  Singing at the top of his lungs,
      Proclaiming as if in the gospel tent
            On a hot steamy high plains Bible-belt night
                  His eternal love for a soul,
                        So fair, so fine
                              So Guinevere,
            So compelling, yet tender
      That their very meeting
            Would forever remain
                  For good or for ill
In the halls of the legendary couples
            As love heralded,
      Heralded love.

And this meeting of passion and dreams,
      This episode in his life
Was the wrinkle in the tale
      That altered his trajectory,
And sent him off
      On a new journey.


For Conversations With Walt
Denis J. Kelly
June 15, 2011