MUSICAL WARFARE
—based on the painting “Pulling Force” by Gaye Clear
Every musician
tunes his instrument.
The conductor
steps onto his stand.
Dark & light flash
over the ocean
at the tip of his wand.
Cacophony becomes
music: impetus for war.
Storm clouds
become angels,
taking up sides.
The blackish devil-cloud
plays a drum solo.
Violent waves,
tipped with cola-foam
crash then pause
perhaps by a fermata.
When the score ends
and music stops,
will the audience clap?
Will the white clouds
outnumber the black?
Bio: Helen Losse lives in Winston-Salem. She is the author of six collections of poetry, including Every Tender Reed, published by Main Street Rag in May 2016. Her poems have been anthologized in Literary Trails of the North Carolina Piedmont, and The Southern Poetry Anthology, Volume VII: North Carolina.
Wild Goose Poetry Review 