how music is supposed to be

writing is not how music is supposed to be
a house where the trees are all bent one way
on one side the tower
on the other a string of railroad cars.

             the bridge is violet
             the county line infinity
             the grand canal vanishes


a certain kind of quality of being is possible






When I went to Germany I visited Beethoven’s house and bought
a postcard reproduction of part of a score. I bought it because I
believed I could see individual notes scratched out. I thought
Beethoven had made a mistake, that he had begun something and
changed his mind. . . . this gave me great hope.

—Carol Ciavonne

Carol Ciavonne’s poems have appeared in Boomerang, Denver Quarterly, The Journal, Pleiades, and elsewhere. She teaches at Santa Rosa Junior College.

Originally published in the summer 2004 issue of Boston Review.