Sonata No. 1
Claire Oplinger
Prelude
She tore it up
Starting with each corner
And working her way into the middle
Until a pile of snow and ink
Pooled on the carpet
She picked up the flute once more
Breathy and unfocused
But honest this time
No longer hiding
Behind inflexible symbols
And expecting to find
Answers
Waltz
Practicing Bizet and Brahms
Beethoven, Schubert, Saint-Saens
Strozzi, the Schumanns, and Bonds
Fill the room all evening long
Then there’s Cecile Chaminade
Crawford, Debussy, and Bon
Verdi and Rachmaninov
Fill the heart’s fractures with song
Rondo
All good gifts come from above
Wrapped in hidden calm from above.
Who can know this well of peace?
Of our understanding, it is far above.
Flowing like a mountain stream
Notes whose origins are in the clouds above.
Heavenly rhythms ride the spring winds
Circling down as they float from above.
They rest their infinite wings in mortal form
As the melodies spill down from above.
Polished silver, maple wood, furnished gold
Glimmering like mysteries from above.
In a midnight ballet, Light’s Song rushes out
To chase out the dark with a sword from above.
Claire Oplinger, class of 2023, is a Flute Performance major at the Mason Gross School of the Arts. She grew up in Morristown, New Jersey, and plans to pursue a career in music librarianship after completing her studies at Rutgers. These poems were written during Susan Miller’s Spring 2022 Creative Writing—Poetry class. Professor Miller selected the pieces for inclusion in WHR.