Inspiration flowing like a river

This poem was written for my friend, Mariano Castro, an Argentine musician and composer.  I met Mariano in the fall of 2004, when he performed in North Carolina as part of a tango duo.  I had several long conversations with Mariano, attended a number of the tango dances with live music where he performed and had him to my house for dinner.  It was an intense 2 weeks, to be sure.  We got to know one another quite well and I was so inspired by Mariano's playing that I wrote this poem for him, Corazón de Rosa.  But the inspiration didn't stop there!  When I presented Mariano with the poem, he promptly wrote an original piano composition as an "answer".  That composition was recorded on his 2005 CD, "Solitando". 

Corazón de Rosa

slow burning—

out of the darkness

of hair and eyes

something shimmering appears.

gleaming,

shaping itself

into a veil of

honey light—

an aurora australis.

soft and feathery

it plays out across the void,

wrapping you like a cloak,

crowning you

with its lustrous beams.

a smile—

and joy transforms

so much darkness.

an arrow of radiance

devours the distance between us.

a rose—

without a thorn