THE LIGATURE

Often it is the incidentals –

a hinge, a clasp, a bearing –

that make a thing work,

that gives it its sway,

its music,

it movement.

Without it

a door won’t open,

a woodwind won’t blow,

a wheel won’t spin.

And if these elements

aren’t at play,

if, let’s say,

a ligature is lost

somewhere in the night,

what then?

We will have to improvise.

We will have to become the clasp.

We will have to thumb our way onto the stage

from the audience,

and make the slimmest offering possible.

And that will have to do.

And it will.

It does.

It will be the interlude

that no planning

could have composed.