After All 

At the very bottom of the heart, earliest layers of emotion,

Misty childhood images that are transformed into pieces of memories.

At times a shred of past emotion, clear and bright, rises up within me,

I grasp it, step into it.

So very familiar,

The sounds, the sights, the figures… 

.

I linger in the light corners,

And the dark corners linger within me, almost trapping me,

But I do not surrender, I choose to stand erect.

I know, nothing fades,

Not even a distant dim image – it is still within me,

Continuing to create emotions,

Giving rise to actions.

Like rings of a tree trunk,

Each new ring holding within the form of the one before,

But I choose which angle to support, where to straighten and where to round.

I will balance my branches and reach up to the beauty of the skies.

After All 

Dedicated to Shiri Coneh

Morning.

I check for new mails and messages, and find a message waiting for me:

“Good morning Dalit, how are you?  If you have a piece that has not been performed yet, around 2-3 minutes long, I would love to record it.  What do you say? “

What a start to my morning….

I reply:

“Dear Shiri, It would be an honor”.

A melody enters my head, something I have been playing only to myself, for years – a piece of private emotion. Nevertheless, my heart says:” Give it to Shiri”.

I take my cell phone, photograph the handwritten piece and send it by WhatsApp.

For a split second I feel concerned, I add a message: “Shiri, it’s a slow melody trying to find its way and it’s only at the end that a star lights up. If you were expecting something in a different spirit, I’ll compose another piece”.

I’m already holding my guitar, looking for dancing notes. My glance wanders to the window and although I can see bright summer clouds, my fingers start to move in a rhythm of drops bringing on the rain…it amuses me. I repeat the phrase over and over, and suddenly there’s the sound of an incoming message from Shiri.

“Dalit, I really liked it, vague tonality, starting off in C# minor, progressing to A major. I am drawn to dark things, especially during these times (corona lockdown).

I reply: “Shiri, that’s great, I was a little worried that you were expecting something different and I’d already started to compose a new piece….”

Shiri replies: “Wonderful, I’ll play them both!”

I hurried off to print out the music for the first piece for Shiri, but she preferred to learn it from my scribbled handwritten score.

I asked: “Shiri, why work so hard?”

She explained:” Your handwriting reveals your hesitations, erasing and corrections – that way I can discover the secrets that would not appear in a printed manuscript”.

Shiri is a wonderful guitar player, I enjoy working with her so much.

I return to check what’s going on with the rain.