Soave Sia Il Vento
after Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
In the wobbly pirouette between song
& dust, dog-nosed living room windows
& a purple couch that should have been curbed
last July: Saturday sunlight cuts it all every
time you lean into some kind of ballet pose.
Your belly & knobby elbow & leotarded knee
wavering in a slim balance. Jeté, effacé—
I don’t know what they mean & nod anyway.
You reach & spin & dog hair hangs
in the air like the start of heartfelt applause.
Copyright © 2017 by Adrian Matejka. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on April 18, 2017, by the Academy of American Poets.
“For about a year I’ve been trying and mostly failing in profound ways to write about my daughter. Her sense of wonder and openness defies what I know how to do in a poem right now. So I’ve been writing these ten-line, music-inspired lyrics in an effort to change my poetic perspective while still catching some of the smaller moments of her joy.”
—Adrian Matejka
Adrian Matejka
Adrian Matejka is the author of The Big Smoke (Penguin, 2013), which was nominated for both a National Book Award and a Pulitzer Prize. He lives in Bloomington, Indiana.