ASHES OF BARITONE
~Stage Draft
By Vera Von Monika
You walk like a line written
in the silence before applause,
not seeking attention,
but commanding truth.
There’s a weight in your tone
no score could transcribe,
a resonance carved from
long-forgotten pages,
where the ink ran heavier
than the melody.
While others climb octaves
to be heard,
you’ve mastered the descent
finding poetry
in what’s left unsaid.
You do not perform.
You translate.
The echo, the dim light,
the breath between verses
you give all of it voice.
And in the hush that follows,
we realize
not all fires burn bright.
Some smolder
to stay alive…
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