Awakening of Cheerful Feelings

The ritual of stilted niceties

was rackety stiff

in an unpretentious
can’t-think-of-a-thing-to-say
sort of way:

the scrape of kitchen chairs
and squeaky water pipes
and the clink and jangle of spoons

against the clatters and clangs
that accompany the preparation of food –
rattled and ricocheted round me,

as I pictured a wild percussion section
crashing about, belligerently,
while the rest of the orchestra
looked on – gob-smacked . . .

waiting.  

Then:  she turned on the radio
and The Pastoral began to tumble,
in joyful backflip swaths,
across the snowy white moguls of the tablecloth . . .

and cheered the moment.

note: The Pastoral (also known as Symphony No. 6) was composed by Ludwig van Beethoven in 1808.  Beethoven frequently wrote music in rural locations and the title of the first movement -"Awakening of Cheerful Feelings" - underscores the lighthearted quality of the piece.

photos:  The Kitchen – W. Bourke (pictures were taken in The Port Moody Station Museum in Port Moody's 1908 Canadian Pacific Railway Station) 

© 2013 Wendy Bourke