Peace Piece
by Sara Backer
“Bill had this quiet fire that I loved on piano.” —Miles Davis
Art by Ted Arnold
Ostinato should be a verb, to structure
sound that faithfully returns as itself—
no development, no disguises.
Steel beams accept the sky in all its weather.
Melodies move in and out of ostinato,
new tenants in the same building, changing mood.
Think of building as permanence,
tenants as weather,
piano—pulse.
Bill drops dominant to tonic,
that perfect fifth, G9 to C7,
ostinato sostenuto—falling, fading,
healing. Staccato jumps into the quiet fire
of his sadness, his joyful piercing rain
— . . . . . . — . . . — . .
The living fill their lives with repetition
and the dying hope for their return.
About the Author:
Sara Backer’s first book of poetry, Such Luck (Flowstone Press 2019) follows two poetry chapbooks: Scavenger Hunt (dancing girl press) and Bicycle Lotus (Left Fork). Her honors include a prize in the 2019 Plough Poetry Prize Competition, nine Pushcart nominations, and fellowships from the Norton Island and Djerassi resident artist programs. She holds an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Art and reads for The Maine Review. Recent and forthcoming publications include The Pedestal Magazine, Crannog, Tar River Poetry, DMQ Review, Slant, and Kenyon Review. Follow her on Twitter @BackerSara
About Weekly Flash Prose and Poetry:
CutBank Online features one work of flash prose or prose poetry every Friday. Submissions are free and open year-round. Send us your best work of 750 words or less at https://cutbank.submittable.com/submit.