Flows, Sings
In the early hour
peeing
later morning
surprises on tongue
tasting tea
teeth chewing lips
listening with
feet
on curious soles
another day
steps into my humming orb
with honest clarity
midday overflows into
afternoon
filled with silken chords
multiple voices ring
echoing
through ears, flesh, bones
misty waves of sound
weaving droplets into dusky desire
for rest, drifting, winter
five o’clock
sun’s gone already, structures,
roofs, walls, fences, blurred, melted, faint –
how could the day glide so effortlessly
Open is the garden: Licht
fading to shades of grey
evening
sprouts questions
darkness delicately explores
night
star-studded with dreams
Here
a fugue entices
centuries converge
music by J.S. Bach reaches
consoles, flows, sings, strings shimmer
Tröstet das Herz, wir sehnen uns
nach dieser Berührung
der Seele
Es regnet…
Auch heute noch
In der kleinen Kathedrale
klingt der Gesang
Violoncello
Stimme
Orgel
Trost
geborgen im Stein
ein Juwel
Karina Epperlein, Berkeley, November 2025
For my displaced parents, after the war in their early twenties, listening to live concerts of Johann Sebastian Bach’s music – performed by Karl Richter’s chorus and orchestra in churches and concert halls in München – saved their lives on a spiritual level. This miracle must have gotten infused into my blood cells when still in the womb. The deep connection never left me. How modern his compositions sound to me. How deeply nourishing and inspiring. Nowadays, more Americans seem to have taken to this astonishing composer who died 275 years ago at age sixty-five. Speaking to us over continents and centuries. How lucky we are that his music has been preserved. With the help of the famous Bach-Archive in Leipzig where composers, scholars and musicians from all over the world do their research and pay homage to the great master.
Here a wonderful “international” experience I had in 2019
And lastly, the Translation from German at end of poem:
Licht = light
[Here a Fugue entices…. music by J.S. Bach… flows, sings, strings shimmer]
Consoles the heart, we yearn
for soul being touched
like this
it rains…
Even still today
in the small cathedral
resonates the singing
violoncello
voice
organ
solace
embraced in stone
a jewel
Comments
"Wie schön, deine Fotos, deine Worte, deine Wertschätzung."
How beautiful, your photos, your words, your appreciation.
But on second thought, i feel that the word “Wertschätzung” needs to be translated with two words: “Respect and Admiration” to understand the full weight and meaning of it.
In German, two words often are strung together into one, like in Wertschätzung, making for sometimes very long constructions which amuses or confuses Americans. I like pondering the double and triple meanings of these word-strings.
Are those your mother's pieces? They are so beautiful!
"danke danke – ich kann es nicht glauben wie wunderbar und tief deine Worte mich beruehren. Ich kann fast Bach’s Fuge in der Kirche hören – danke für die Musik, danke für Bach’s Musik."
Thank you, thank you – I cannot believe how wonderfully and deeply your words touch me. I can almost hear Bach’s fugue in the church – thank you for the music, thank you for Bach’s music.
Remembering the twining of Bach’s melodies, the twisting path they follow.
Like a flock of birds each seems to go their own way, but somehow they all move together, synchronized, yet independent. The perfect balance of freedom and progress,
Remembering Bach’s melodies, twisting in different directions yet moving together with gentle purpose. Like a flock of birds, each following their own independent path, yet somehow progressing together to a shared goal.
In synchronistic fashion, I myself woke to the sky with a flock of birds in the distance, the uneven v-line, ever shifting, mesmerizing like celestial music. The hill is so utterly and beautifully quiet, only nature speak. I tell my friends: this is what i love best about Thanksgiving. Not being born here, I don’t have the soft cloud of nostalgic childhood memories to drift on…. The morning silence is heavenly, and arrives faithfully every year, just as today.