i am the reed that quietly grows
along the bank
for years i sweetly swayed
with the wind
until a blade slashed my being
and i despaired
holes were zealously bored
into my drying skin
i felt this shell of existence
precisely impaired
but then lips caressed me
and eager fingers
played across my surface
and suddenly
there was life within me again
a voice
that was not truly the player’s
but my own
a sound of longing that was
clearly me
for years i stood along the banks
and said nothing
touch me again my beloved
and breathe
your breath searches my being
filling my desire
breathe into this instrument
and make it sing
breathe and feel this flesh
evoke the stars
my struggling attempts to learn the ney
George Ellington 