This little poem was inspired when my friend’s beloved daughter graduated from a three-quarter-sized instrument and into a full-size instrument and a full-size life. The two are, I think, intricately entwined.
In Her Hands
for Sophie
The three-quarter cello,
breast-height and smiled-upon,
a maker of child-music
in clumsy quavers and slurs
in pieces adapted for lesser hands
its player tolerated and indulged
with promises of a big-girl bed
a bike with no training-wheels
of a someday-life in full-size
This week my Sophie
pushed up over the top
of the three-quarter instrument
and blossomed into the full
the devastating
the sonorous
the exquisite
the plaintive
the dangerous
cello
Her life is in her hands now
Kate Chadbourne
14 October 2007
