ELIZABETH FISHER - POEMS

Elizabeth Fisher is a freelance writer, vocal performer, and visual artist currently residing in south Florida.

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Call of the Cathedral ​

​The concrete foundation
Holding firm the gray formation
Years written in the decaying bricks
The wooden doors towering over the entrance archway
As the monks file into the building
Rows of ancient pews
Outlining the outer walls
As colors pour in onto the floor
From the stained glass windows
Depicting scenes
From the Holy Book
While the monks chant the Scriptures
Passed down through the ages
The bell tolls six

D5 ​

Filing on stage with our folders in hand
​Taking our places on the risers
Alto, Bass, Tenor
I enter as a Soprano
Among the other coloraturas and lyricals
Our midnight gowns unify
As the director raises his hands
We know to raise our folders
Opening our first piece
The accompanist gives our starting pitches
D major
The director counts off
One, two, three, and…
I breathe in softly on the and
The choir starts the piece
A cappella voices fill the chapel
Glossing the walls with cadences
Painting the floors with iridescent harmonies
At last
We near the final chord
Sopranos hold D5
A pedal tone
Over the smoothly changing chords underneath
From predominant to dominant
Finally the Altos, Tenors, and Basses
Land onto the tonic chord
Completing D major
And thus completing the piece

​Ordinary  

​His knapsack upon his back
His shoes clinging onto his feet
No taller than the gate to his house
Today was the day he would be free
Mum and Dad were still asleep
Unaware their little boy was off
To see the world beyond his doorstep
To smell the grass of a different land
 
When he came to a fork in the road
He chose neither path
But walked right in the middle
Through the brush and the trees
When the sun was at the top of the sky
He came to an open field
There was one occupant
A tall woman with golden hair
Which seemed to bleed into her dress
Her face was soft yet stern
As she turned to face the young boy
She knelt down and kissed his head
He watched as she then ran around
The sun painting beams across the field
Yellows and oranges dancing on her face
The grass leaning to touch her feet
With a spin and a leap she disappeared
 
And the sun was gone
Replaced with the moon
The boy walked to the middle of the thicket
Looking up towards the moon
He was approached by a large shadow
The owner was a wolf
With long gray hair and eyes like ice
The wolf howled at the moon
And looked the boy right in the eyes
“You are always at home” it said
With a sparkle in its teeth
As it turned back and ate the moon
 
The boy took his compass
And placed it in the sky where the moon was
He followed the North
Which led him straight into the sea
There were no waves
But there was a lighthouse
Made of trees and stardust
Suddenly he was underwater
Tigers and ostriches swam with grace around him
As elephants walked in a line along the bottom
Atlantis shone dimly in the distance
But he did not want to go there
He wanted to go home
He missed his Mum and Dad
Plus he was hungry
 
The boy dug a hole in the bottom of the ocean
And swam through into to the sky
He flew among the clouds
Rainbows bounced along the ground
And bounded into the sky
As he floated down to his home
Walking through the front gate
He found he had grown taller
Just an inch or so
But he could now see over the gate
Mum was cooking breakfast
Dad was reading the paper
The boy entered the front door
And dropped his bag with a gleam in his eye
Now he knew how the world should work