(no subject)
We read Williams’ “A Chorale of Cherokee Night Music as Heard Through an Open Window in Summer Long Ago.”
I then assigned each student a line to read aloud - waya waya or tsikilili tsikilil - walking from table to table, having them pronounce it after me. Once all assigned, I said, “On three, whisper the line over and over.”
Some students were enthusiastic, becoming katydid, bullfrog, spring frog.
Of course, not all were: I could see many mouths not moving.
So I started walking to those who were not speaking, looking at lips and listening, a critical brow raised as eye met eye.
And as I moved from table to table a magic happened:
A kagu kagu kagu kagu kagu kagu kagu kagu would rise and fall in amplitude
as I moved through bat-like, seeking to see sound
be touched by sound
as I moved by as through a forest of creature and spirit who were sending me sounds,
touching me, telling me,
sounds catching me like webs,
trailing over me the beards of oaks -
and within minutes I moved through a night in the wilds,
through realms and domains of the night callers
and for a moment these students became ancient initiates
and I an instructor of some purer truth,
some ancient imperative.
I then assigned each student a line to read aloud - waya waya or tsikilili tsikilil - walking from table to table, having them pronounce it after me. Once all assigned, I said, “On three, whisper the line over and over.”
Some students were enthusiastic, becoming katydid, bullfrog, spring frog.
Of course, not all were: I could see many mouths not moving.
So I started walking to those who were not speaking, looking at lips and listening, a critical brow raised as eye met eye.
And as I moved from table to table a magic happened:
A kagu kagu kagu kagu kagu kagu kagu kagu would rise and fall in amplitude
as I moved through bat-like, seeking to see sound
be touched by sound
as I moved by as through a forest of creature and spirit who were sending me sounds,
touching me, telling me,
sounds catching me like webs,
trailing over me the beards of oaks -
and within minutes I moved through a night in the wilds,
through realms and domains of the night callers
and for a moment these students became ancient initiates
and I an instructor of some purer truth,
some ancient imperative.