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Dick Westheimer has, for over forty year, live in the company of his wife Debbie and lived, gardened and raised five children, on their plot of land in Clermont County, Ohio. After years of writing songs and essays, he took up with poets and the writing of poetry on November 8, 2016. In the company of his new-found poet friends and his own poems, he has begun to learn the art of listening.
The contest between harmony and invention
After Vivaldi’s Concerto Op. 9 No. 8 in D minor
A round table in a round room, lit by moonlight
in the umber hills above Oaxaca -
a toffee brown Maya man who speaks no Spanish
his con leche lover, Maya, too, who knows no English
a French woman who cooks with guajillos
her milk-chocolate man who speaks no Mayan
and I, the gringo güero, the only one who speaks no Vivaldi.
The strains of La Cetra stir a circle -
notes that move from strings to speech,
from Maya to me, monolingual, whisper
the candlelight into shadows,
transcend the Conquest, light these eyes
that dance between harmony and invention -
plot the next revolution.
The contest between harmony and invention
After Vivaldi’s Concerto Op. 9 No. 8 in D minor
A round table in a round room, lit by moonlight
in the umber hills above Oaxaca -
a toffee brown Maya man who speaks no Spanish
his con leche lover, Maya, too, who knows no English
a French woman who cooks with guajillos
her milk-chocolate man who speaks no Mayan
and I, the gringo güero, the only one who speaks no Vivaldi.
The strains of La Cetra stir a circle -
notes that move from strings to speech,
from Maya to me, monolingual, whisper
the candlelight into shadows,
transcend the Conquest, light these eyes
that dance between harmony and invention -
plot the next revolution.
Launched by poets Mark Flanigan and Jim Palmarini in 2014, Word of Mouth was inspired by the late Cincinnati poet Aralee Strange. Poets of all stripes are welcome to show up, listen, and mouth off.