Face-To-Face

Out of nowhere, you find yourself
placed daily before the fortress,
rustic logs throbbing
something from within
you vaguely recognize
as music—so primal,
so otherworldly in its purpose,
you are at once drawn closer,
cautioned back. Succumb
to ugly logic, to mean-spirited
reason, or religion,
and you, believing you shun
merely the unknown, will flee
unwittingly from beauty. Trust the blood,
however, waltzing to four-part harmony
within the heart, and you will be moved
to witness, through the chinking’s
thin fissures, the shadows
of the enchanted. Then, and only then,
might you choose to follow
a force you’ll lovingly call your soul
through huge swinging doors
thrown open to the glorious
commotion of it all.

The Glorious Commotion of it All (2004)
To order: Western Folklife Center, 775-738-7508.

© Paul Zarzyski. All rights reserved. These words may not be reprinted or reposted without the
author's written permission.