crescendo
Bill Cushing
It is said when
on his death bed,
Beethoven
lifted his
lion-maned head,
propped himself
on joints
weakened by age,
and though
unable to hear
the thunder
rattling the casements
of those windowpanes,
shook his fists
and pointed
at the sky,
glaring
at the lightning outside.
It was almost as if
he meant to chide
God and His angels
to beware,
for they
were about to bear
witness to a new,
unhumbled essence —
and they
would hear him
express an eternal note—
bold and relentless
filled with the rumbling of kettle drums,
a blare of brass.
Called the “blue collar poet” by classmates after returning to school at 35, Bill Cushing’s work has appeared in various publications. Two of his poems related to music—“Music isn’t about standing still and being safe” and “Surviving Adagio for Strings”—have been Pushcart Prize nominees. Bill has four previous poetry collections: A Former Life (Kops-Fetherling International Award), Music Speaks (San Gabriel Valley Poetry Festival Award; New York City Book Award), “. . .this just in. . .”, and Just a Little Cage of Bone (American Writing Award finalist). "Crescendo" will be part of his upcoming volume, The Beast Inside. Bill also collaborates with a musician in a project they have dubbed Notes and Letters, which can be found on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@notesandlettersbillcushing7741