Pitch

By Shannon K. Winston

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What did you say? 
My mother asks me every day.

She tunes her hearing aids: 
one millimeter up, half a one down, 

a musician with a tuning fork.

Walking down the street,
I crank up the music, a conductor
of a concerto, a jam session, 

or a pop refrain. Louder, louder—
notes flower in my ear buds.  

What did you say? I ask 
my mother almost every day.

Some would call it inattention, 
but meaning blooms 
between quietness and cadence. 

A musician and conductor 
meander through a field. 

They press their ears to the ground. 

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Shannon K. Winston’s book, The Girl Who Talked to Paintings (Glass Lyre Press), was published in 2021. Her individual poems have appeared in Bracken, Cider Press Review, On the Seawall, RHINO Poetry, and elsewhere. She holds an MFA from the Warren Wilson Program for Writers. She lives in Bloomington, IN. Find her here: shannonkwinston.com.

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