Love In Larghetto Poem by Suzanne Hayasaki

Love should evolve slowly
From trepidation
To jubilation
To resignation, if necessary,
But never assignation of blame.

For in love above all things, “It takes two to tango.”

Sara Chan, bow in hand,
Sets out to sing from her soul.
Fingers to strings, it begins,
Her back arches,
Her face contorts,
She nearly groans with the emotions flowing through her body,
And into the air
In a series of notes we call music,
But which for her are a language
Carrying the truest of messages
In the purest of forms.
Her violin speaks to those who know the code:
Of what it is to be alive in the moment
Of what it is to strive towards heaven
Of what it means to stretch herself
To offer everything she has to All
In order to create a moment of beauty
As ephemeral and impermanent as life itself.

She is in no hurry.
She knows the piece she will play will come to life
In its own time on its own terms.
She is simply the vessel through which it flows.
Like a Zen master she knows that with proper preparation
And perfect understanding of her role in the whole,
When the music begins, she can simply let go,
And she will become what she must
And in her surrender is her release
To be everything she needs to be
To bring about a miracle
Tiny as it may seem.

I am no different.
I simply work in verse.
Words are my medium.
Love is my muse.
My code is no easier to decipher than Beethoven’s.
But it is beautiful.
For it is truth.

I sing for all.
I speak to all.
I know where my words will carry me.
In another dimension where time has no meaning.
In this one I just exist.
I offer no resistance.

To you, to God, to death itself.

And in doing so I remain immune:
To doubt, to fear, to hurt, to blame.

And so I extend my hand to you and ask,
“May I have this dance? ”