A Day in the Stream

A Day in the Stream


There is a weekly stream
of board meetings,
panel meetings,
committee meetings
(someone slap me please before I say yes
to one more thing),
filling orders for my publishing company’s
distributors (thank you!),
and, golly, people, things and activities
that are very enjoyable
and have nothing directly to do with
my music work whatsoever.
Although, any composer will tell you
that it’s all inseparable,
and everything we do
and all that we are
is what gets poured out into our new pieces.
Music is my life’s reflecting pond,
and all I can do is just hope
that the water beneath the surface
is deep enough so that when I fall in,
I don’t bonk my head too hard.

Alex Shapiro November 2009