Left ear for facts, right ear for creative fancy, it is said. At the edge of the woodland are balsam and clover, sage and lavender, and ginger-coloured bees who buzz in the key of A. In the deep of the marshland, low B-flat inhabits the air. Alligators bellow, angry flies buzz in the key of F.
But what key is best for wondering over worries, wants and desires, listening in vain for mercy’s echo? What key for nights tied up with confusion and talk full of wonders, when what-if’s spill over into resolve—or resignation—and sleep won’t come when called?
Tired bees buzz in a different key. Fact or fancy? Left behind in the wake of key changes: a tired, over-wounded heart, a pessimistic major chord, an apology stained with compromise, and the delicious bruise of experience.
Poem and Photograph by Meg Freer
“Key Changes”: Originally published in Eastern Iowa Review, Issue 6 online, February 2018,
http://www.portyonderpress.com/meg-freer—key-changes.html
Meg Freer grew up in Montana and lives in Ontario. She has worked as an editor and currently teaches piano and music history. She enjoys taking photos, being outdoors year-round, and wishes she had more time for writing poetry. Her writing has been published in various journals and anthologies.