Marcell

A ray of sunlight streams across the room To light the raven ringlets of his hair, As now and then he slightly sways, within His artful hands a violin and bow, From whence bursts forth the musings of his mind In vivid tones with deep vibrato's power, And there expands and swells to fill the void Of empty space that dwells within the walls Composed of stones, both grey and worn with age, Their only saving grace the leaded panes, Designed by some forgotten man of old. There stands Marcell, a stranger to the world, Absorbed in fantasies of melodies, The phantoms of how things appear to be; For in the notes he dreams and then pours out, He cunningly reveals his somber thoughts And feelings, while the world is stamped to dust. They tell the mournful tale of one who lived, And breathed, and thought, but was not understood; A boy whose parents died before his eyes For crimes they never could have helped commit, The crime of being born the same as he, Of race that every other thought as vile, And now while all the world engaged in war, Is hidden in an ancient, empty church, His one companion held within his hands And speaking, just as he, to empty air. {Written by Isaiah Zerbst on January 2d. Published January 3d, 2015.}