Poetry

Lanson Wells

Listening

Listening to Beethoven, I think of silence.
Sounds of beauty and sounds of rapture.
Emotion swirling from the orchestra,
the performers as engaged as I.

Listening to Mozart, I think of grace.
Regular rhythms cast with elegance.
The dance steps of the minuet, 
portrayed by the violins and celli. 

Listening to Stravinsky, I think of riots.
Music alive with energy and action.
Patrons in the streets of Paris,
shocked by what they saw on stage.

Listening to Brahms, I think of work.
Composition born of craftmanship.
Melody and meter blended,
which shoots straight to the soul.

Listening to Debussy, I think of color.
Shimmering sounds mimicking paintings.
A change in musical direction,
tonality and harmony used as emotion.  

Listening to Bach, I think of reverence. 
Complex fugues bursting from the organ.
Sonatas hymns and suites,
created to exalt all heaven's glory.

Lanson Wells is an online student in the IT Essentials Certificate program at EGCC. He is reference librarian and circulation clerk with the Cuyahoga County Public Library, and the assistant editor of the Journal of the American Viola Society. Lanson holds degrees in Library and Information Science, Music Performance, and Online and Blended Learning and Teaching. He is very excited to be published in the first volume of the Oak Tree Journal.