j. michael wahlgren

The Musician


There’s a chance, one-in-a-million,
That I’ll approach

The girl on the quad from the marching band,
Sit down next to her, & like a stranger offer my candy:

A long pop sugar-coated, turning to rain
As she fingers her trumpet for all the world to see.

There’s gum inside. There’s a rectory of sugar, melting
Inside a river’s mouth.

The flow of the music, tarp-covered stage,
Where she places me to sing,

For the knots to untie, soundly. I am only a note,
A mere tenor to her whole note. There’s little

Fascination with a triangle player,
If only my hypotenuse stood erect

In a city where strangers
Meet regularly for practice.

J Michael Wahlgren edits for Gold Wake Press. He is author of Silent Actor (Bewrite, 2008), Chariots of Flame & Pre-elixir (Maverick Duck Press).