Alpha

                      Alpha

If glass contains a sound,  we cannot hear

It.  We can cause a sound from it by force

But torture chambers manage only queer

Sounds, agonies, from humans, so of course

The sounds we cause by breaking glass or with

A wetted finger on a rim are not

Related to the soul-like sound of myth

Contained in crystal, sounds akin to thought

Behind an angel’s eye.  And heated glass

In Venice, even that refuses to

Give throat to hopes (in a requiem mass?)

Or melodies of songbirds winged with blue.

  The secret notes of glass and crystal are

    Beyond our dreams,  beyond  a  long  cooled  star.

          

          Copyright by Laurent Millet, Nuages