PROTEST POETRY
Kontrapunkt
These are harrowing days in the US. And activism has left little time for poem writing…until a concert helped me reclaim my joy
Program note: “Kontrapunkt” is the German term for counterpoint, a musical technique where two or more independent melodies are played simultaneously. It can also describe a situation where contrasting elements are interwoven to create a new, harmonious whole. (JBB)
I’d become accustomed to the infestation —
the earworms.
Sleeping only when I do.
Nudging me awake in the wee hours.
Every earworm, an atonal recitative
of a new assault on the Light
by a darkness I never dreamt
I’d see
muster such power.
Who are you? I’d ask those who succumbed
to the Mad King and his cruel court —
bedecked in fool’s gold, orange ice for eyes,
their appetite insatiable for lies.
Who are you? Who are you?
Tonight, I went to church not to pray
but to listen without fear, without dread —
to a chamber ensemble
nearly a half-century younger than I.
Their love of the clouds
of brilliant sound they summoned
(and of one another)
piercing my overfull heart.
Releasing showers of joy
so drowning out
every last awful earworm
that I couldn’t help but sing out
full voice
at a champagne reception afterwards.
Embarrassing my friend.
But oh well.
Dedicated to the LA ensemble Kontrapunktus
©Jenine Bsharah Baines 2025
When I retired, I never dreamt my full-time volunteer ‘career’ would be ‘ACTIVIST’. Yet, as I ended my poem, oh well.
I believe it is writer Anne Lamott who described “Oh well” as the ultimate prayer.
So I protest, and I pray and, after a concert the other night, I wrote my first poem in what feels like forever.
Thank you, and team at Catharsis Chronicles for the home for this poem. , , , ,
Thank you, dearest readers as well. And remember, the No Kings protest is Saturday, October 18. Love.
Jenine Jeni, Jen, J
Call me what you will, what feels right.
Proper names are poetry in the raw. W.H. Auden
