Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Op. 125, IV. Finale, Allegro Assai

Violins and ultraviolet light detonation
O sun, give them all if you can 
catch me 
eighty-five miles per hour accelerando 
double bass double horsepower
in a white convertible top down to match the white wide grin
crescendo quadruple forte forte
Fortissimo!
dominant I could scream
euphoric	transported		go gogo

so I left behind the timpani thrum heartbeat
flutes fight fate for air 
air	air
i need air
disconnect disengage that hand from my throat
timpani timpani timpani timpani 

I left behind the timpani thrum 
Prestissimo heart imperceptible I breathe
You sleep	make no mistake		I do not sleep

O oboe sun, viola breeze
Across low c sea sorrow vibrato
Bombastic orgastic bows and bassoons. 

Oh Friends! No more of these sounds!
Let us sing more cheerful songs,
more full of Joy!

Oh Friends! Oh Millions 
I am millions I am one
Voices, voices on parade, the sorriest soggiest most tearful parade
100 generations long

hear me now in crystalline precision
perfect intonation enunciation punctuation euphoria emancipation
freedom furious 
in a white convertible. 

Lisa Brunner is a student at Chatham University’s MFA Program and the recipient of the Robert Hull Mansell Endowed Poetry Fellowship. Lisa’s poetry is based on her training as both a lawyer and violinist. Her work has appeared in Sampsonia Way (November 2020) and Night Music Journal (coming May 2021). Her first chapbook, Symphony No. 1, was released in April 2021 (Aloud Press). Lisa lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with her two labradoodles.