Return
Home
Great
Links
Bio
Index
of Nick's Writings
Click picture to ZOOM  
 
 
My Unfinished Symphony

By Nick Roes

I’m so scared.
Suppose I die and never leave behind anything
that was "unfinished"?

Beethoven had his unfinished symphony; the greatest artists and philosophers all seem to have died
with works in progress.

Without something "unfinished"
I’m afraid
my life will have been empty and meaningless.

In my youth I used to wonder,
why Beethoven didn’t finish
his symphony.

What could he possibly
have chosen
to do that was more important?

Perhaps he died with pen in hand,
desperately struggling to lay down
the final notes before
he expired.

Maybe, if he was married,
his wife had asked him
to take out the trash
at the very moment
the inspiration for the ending was about to overwhelm him.

Or maybe he just thought
he had all the time in the world
and wasn’t even worried about it.

I also wonder,
was he happy or sad
that he didn’t finish?

I’m certain he wouldn’t want someone else
to finish his symphony.

Or, then again,
maybe he wouldn’t mind that at all.

But he surely would be happy
that the world even noticed
an unfinished composition he left lying around his house.

Or, then again,
maybe he didn’t think it was good enough
to show anybody.

But those are all
Beethoven’s troubles.

My trouble is this all-encompassing fear
that I will die without
an unfinished work.


This effort,
"My Unfinished Symphony"
may be
my best one yet.


Surely,
with just a little effort,
I could improve upon this first draft.

But I’m too afraid I’ll finish.


 






| Doubt | Holiday Limerick Rant | The Fungus Family | Thanks, Mom | Barry Ville, RIP | A Building Dreams | Don't Bug Me | My Unfinished Symphony | The Green Heron |
| Return Home | Great Links | Bio | Index of Nick's Writings |
 
 



Copyright © 2023, NAR Associates, Inc.. All rights reserved.