Operatic Fever

I do not understand
their language but the
power of voice and timbre
grab me and shake
the meaning from my core.

The secrets, they lie like thieves
waiting to steal a promise
of happiness and replace it with
a broken replica filled with shadows.

Tears wrought for foolish pride
and sacrifice glide down my cheeks,
salted raindrops caught
in the corners of my down turned mouth

as the deathbed scene plays
havoc with my heart until
I want to scream at them all,
had you known the truth...

would it had even made a difference?

Author's Note

captch: maimer

Reviews

[Creepy Swine Guy]

Nicely penned. I am reminded of the opera sequence in The Shawshank Redmption where Red said ...

"I have no idea to this day what those two Italian ladies were singing about. Truth is, I don't want to know. Some things are best left unsaid. I'd like to think they were singing about something so beautiful, it can't be expressed in words, and makes your heart ache because of it.

I tell you, those voices soared higher and farther than anybody in a gray place dares to dream. It was like some beautiful bird flapped into our drab little cage and made those walls dissolve away, and for the briefest of moments, every last man in Shawshank felt free."

youtube.com/watch?v=azWVPWGUE1M

[icelandicblue]

God, that gave me goosebumps it was so beautiful. Thank you for sharing that. Opera is otherworldly and when I wrote this I was thinking of La Traviata. It was Verdi's birthday not long ago and I listened to a piece on the radio and it got me thinking...Thanks

[Joiedevivre]

you have captured the feeling so well here, i partake in it and (mis)place it to Romeo and Juliet, although it's not an opera, just to say you've done an excellent job to evoke feeling and excite imagination.
"the
power of voice and timbre
grab me and shake
the meaning from my core."

excellent lines, heartfelt and intricate.
May I point out, yu may have forgotten to delete one of the two words "by" or "in" here:
salted raindrops caught by
in the corners of my down turned mouth

Overall, one of my favourites!

[icelandicblue]

Thanks so much joidevivre. Also many thanks for pointing out that extra word- which I have now removed it. Glad you enjoyed the poem.

[writing mojo]

I love the flow of this piece catches myself in the humbleness questing for this act of linguistic treason damned with the conscious stream written in....great piece

[icelandicblue]

Again, I appreciate your perspective it is fresh and unique.

[Daffy]

Yes, we do not need to understand the language at all. I can watch or listen to a complete opera without knowing the story and still enjoy it immensely. I love the way the voices convey emotion. The composers were genii and way out on their own. This poem says it all. Thanks for sharing. Mozart and Verdi are my two favourites.

[icelandicblue]

Thank you Daffy for your review. Sometimes the emotion wrought through the tremendous singing is all we really need to know.

[Laura]

You response to song and actions in an opera is so well described...I can visualize your raw emotion expressed through you tears, yet you understand that the true meaning of the opera's story is evasive. Great write!

[icelandicblue]

Thank you for reading!

[icelandicblue]

To sing with the emotion, to listen to those actors who sing, (mostly in Italian), is so beautiful, I remember an eve at Napoli (Naples) when I lived there, I went to the opera, all dressed up, it was fantastic, I have the luck to understand those but in the time I didn't before I learned the language, I probably would have felt like you here, with all the emotion, that can not be placed and needs to get out somehow... :) I would love to hear an opera in a language I don't speak. (for the same effect). This was magical, and it took me, as touched me.

- Elisa

[icelandicblue]

Thank you Elisa, it is a pure sensory experience when you don't understand the language. Thank you for that beautiful review.

Yes, that's so true. I loved this write, it was diverse and I've never ever read a poem on here about Opera before, it got my attention right away, wonderful! :) thank you my friend.

[wordwarrior]

Your words are sad, but your poem so wonderfully composed. Your words are powerful and yes opera does indeed bring forth these emotions.

[icelandicblue]

Thanks wordwarrior for gracing my poem with your comment. ; )

[Lydia Shutter]

It's so true...whether one understands the language of opera or not, the emotive nature of opera envelopes the listener! Your words are intense and powerful.

"The secrets, they lie like thieves
waiting to steal a promise
of happiness and replace it with
a broken replica filled with shadows." Incredible simile and imagery! Very well written. Lydi**

[icelandicblue]

You are so kind. Music is a universal language. Thanks Lydi*

[Baby Ricochet]

Kinda foreboding. Even a little scary. Good one Blue

[icelandicblue]

Opera is always foreboding and scary...you're right on the mark on that one.

[Girl Friday (Sarah W.)]

had you known the truth...
would it (have) even made a difference? -- strong lines...my favorites from the piece.

I'm reminded of youth in this piece...or more pointedly, of someone having that youthful realization that transforms them into an "adult" (or gives shadow to the innocence once enjoyed). There is a melancholy about this one, but also a fever that fills the page (and my mind) with introspective longing. I enjoyed this one...I shall ponder it for a while I think.

[icelandicblue]

Thank you for such a thoughtful and introspective comment Sarah.