Adelaide B. Shaw

Va Pensiero

How can I not sway, tap my feet, wave my hands, conduct the orchestra, chorus, or singer? How can I not be moved when the music swells, gradually reaching a peak with strength then descending and rising again? How can I not play this again and again, this music to wake me up, stir the blood, free negative thoughts, soar to the heights of imagination?  How can I not feel invigorated and begin the day with new resolve?

nothing but gray clouds
yet .... a chorus of birds
begins the first act

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Note: The title, literally translated as “go thought,” is from the first line of the slaves’ chorus from Verdi’s opera Nabucco. The chorus draws parallels between the ancient Israelites’ situation and the contemporary plight of the Italian people under foreign rule in the 19th century.

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About the Author

Adelaide B. Shaw lives in Somers, New York.  She has been creating Japanese poetic forms for over fifty years. Her book An Unknown Road won third place in the 2009 HSA Merit Book Awards. It and her other books—Travel Souveniers, The Distance I’ve Come, and Ancient History—are available on Cyberwit and Amazon. http://www.adelaide-whitepetals.blogspot.com.

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