Your assigned note for singing is close to another note

but it’s not the same. It offers no

reassuring harmony of tones, no accordance,

only intense dissonance.

Together, the notes create a conflict unresolved,

jar like clashing colors,

shake up complacency, wake up the nappers

like a cymbal crash in a candle-lit church.

It’s easy to slide down the slope of the other

note, but don’t let it enslave you,

suck you in like an addiction, or seduce you!

Never elope with the other note.

It requires a steely focus to hold on despite

competing sounds droning in your brain.

So grit your teeth, mentally plug your ears,

and devote yourself to your note.

You know you can be trusted to keep singing

what may at first seem out of place.

Cultivate a taste for eccentric beauty,

and enjoy the crunch.

Katherine Edgren has two books of poetry: Keeping Out the Noise, by Kelsay Books and The Grain Beneath the Gloss, by Finishing Line Press, plus two chapbooks: Long Division and Transports. Her work has appeared in journals including: Coe Review, Birmingham Poetry Review, Light, Hanging Loose Press, Orchards Poetry Journal, and Third Wednesday, among others.