Home Inside a Violin

I imagine a home inside a violin
sleeping in the dark hole
until the case opens and
I'm awakened by the
squeak and screech
of a 4-year-old's
chubby hand on the bow
the kiss of hair and strings
the swell, ebb and flow of a virtuoso
perfumed hair and swish
of a barely-there red-satin dress
the chop of a tobacco-chewing
hollerer from the hills
the booming stomp of boots
pounding a wood-plank floor
I am loved every day
tucked under a chin
against the warmth of skin
hovering above a shoulder
a jostling ride, rocking
every which way in the box
reeling and shaking
the singing vibrations
the grunting and sweat
the depths the rhythm
the strain the offering
breathing
someone's soul

2-12-09
©2009 Hattie Wilcox
Violinist and inventor of the Viper Mark Wood ©2008 Hattie Wilcox