sara Etgen-Baker Poet Free verse

Notes About The Poem

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poem submitted to "Hymn of the Heart" poetry contest, Hiya Sharma, sponsor, July 18, 2026

HYMN OF THE HEART

It starts as a treble~  
a low, warm note  
curling in the hollow of my ribs,  
soft as a cello waking  
to its first intention.

My heart keeps time~  
a quiet strum,  
steady as fingers tapping  
on a wooden table.  
Each beat is a downstroke,  
each breath a lift,  
my body becoming  
its own metronome.

Then the melody stirs.  
Not loud~  
a ribbon of subtle sound  
threading through my bloodstream,  
gathering color  
as it rises.

I walk,  
and the world joins in:  
gravel clicking like castanets,  
wind caressing my ear  
with brushed-snare softness,  
light chiming off leaves  
in tiny silver bells.

The page waits~  
white, expectant,  
a silent staff  
ready for whatever music  
dares to cross it.

I lower my pen.
The first phrase drops~
a bright, ringing note
cutting through the hush,
its echo widening
until the stanza
begins its slow, sure sway.

Ink becomes tempo.
Syllables become intervals.
Emotion becomes tone~
a warm, resonant thrum
vibrating through the margins
long after the music
has settled.

When the poem finishes 
and the last note fades  
into the softness of the page,  
the chorus loosens~
this is the chorus a poet bleeds:  
the music beneath thought,  
the pulse beneath language,  
the quiet, persistent song  
that keeps singing  
even when the mouth  
is still.

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Gershon Wolf July 18, 2026 at 9:30 PM This is an AMAZING write, Sara. I thought for sure you were going to burst forth in song... yet poetry really is a form of song ----- or vice versa. At any rate, BRAVO! Syncopation and Staccato, Gershon