On Not Knowing What I’m Doing (Again)

 

You see, it’s like this:

Sometimes when I’m singing in choir

And I’m singing my (tenor) part

I can’t tell that I’m singing a part.

I am so accustomed to being part

Of the harmony that

The melody seems strange

To me.

And I think how ironic

This is because when I first

Sang in choir, I couldn’t

Read music and found

The other parts distracting

As I tried to sang mine.

I often sang the melody

Instead of a part

And now, decades later,

I find the melody

Strange and I can scarcely tell

When I’m singing

My part or not.

 

Dan Verner

April 29, 2017