Over the summer, campers from The Telling Room’s program Ekphrastic Excursions, came to Merrill Auditorium and listened to “Coincident Dances” by Jessie Montgomery and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Scheherazade,” two work on the PSO’s Classical concert, Scheherazade, on November 16. The campers explored how different soundscapes, themes, and instrumentations inspired their writing, and two of the poems will be read at the concert.

CITY SOUNDS
Sabiqa
^{Inspired by Jessi Montgomery’s Coincident Dances}

I hear music, cars, and feet,
People moving in the street.
So much sound, fast and loud
I feel small in the crowd

It reminds me of Afghanistan.

The forests there, not always safe.
The sounds: animals – moving and wild.
the streets, my village,
my family speaking Pashto—
all of it comes back to me.
Then – America.
The airport: loud and fast
So many people
My heart beats fast.
I felt small, but also curious.
Everything was new.
The music jumps.
It runs.
It plays.
One week later:
Brunswick, Maine.
The forest around the house
It reminds me of Afghanistan.
It made me nervous,
but I told myself,
we’ll figure it out tomorrow.
In 7th grade, I started school
I didn’t know English.
Everything was new.
Teachers helped me.
I listened.
I learned.
I grew.
So much sound
It jumps, it plays

Now I know
when I feel small,
I can be brave.
Every new place,
every new sound,
Will take me far
In many ways.

 

Sabiqa is 16 years old and is from Afghanistan. She moved to the U.S. in 2021 and started school in 7th grade without knowing any English. With help from kind teachers like Mrs. Murphy and Mr. Banton, and support from her tutor Cheryl, she’s grown a lot. Now she’s in 11th grade at Brunswick High School. She enjoys writing poems, and she is proud to share some of her writing today. Her dream is to become a pediatrician. Her favorite subject is math because she loves solving problems, and she also love science because she wants to learn more about the human body.

 

*********

a silent song
Maureen O’Connell
^{Inspired by Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade}

when the percussion that was once built great as the pyramids
crumbles to a hush
and the rhythm creeps to a slow hum
if you listen closely
that is when you will hear her song

echoing through the valleys created
by the tallest peaks
her voice floats
like a petal on the breeze

when drops of dew can be heard
restless on a blade of grass
when sunrays make their music
like a symphony of light

when the world erupts in silence
is the only time you will truly hear
what it is you have been listening for

and when that moment comes
I will fear only the bird that cries
when the sun climbs into view

 

Maureen is a 17-year-old poet and junior at Framingham High School in Massachusetts. Her favorite poet is Maya Angelou, whom she admires for how much she was able to accomplish and how many people she was able to help. She wants to be a writer and human rights activist and enjoys art and reading outside of school.