Once More, With Feeling

by Alicia Hoffman

Danny Lines

Because everyone deserves a do-over. Because back when I was blotto more often than not

I played the ivory keys of the day like a bull elephant. Smashed the back of my palms

on haphazard chords. Broke the delicate strings of relationships. Tenuous. Made it through

recitals, barely. Intention was a word I erased from the page, preferring then to throw vocabulary

to the wind. Now, hyacinths cower in a white dust of snow, and April is an infinite script of wish

fulfillment. From now on, I promise to scroll towards tomorrow’s serifs more legibly, prove

capable of breathing unshakeable empty space before choosing, needling groove and thread,

steady, if only I can go once more, with feeling. Because I fear I missed the most important text,

and now the plot holes are gaping. The timbre begins in fits and starts and before I know it intermission

is ending. I hear the cacophony of strange applause. I’m the player who forgot about the band. The black

cat on the steep white ledge. Because I fear I misread the music of who I am. I don’t know where to land.

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Originally from Pennsylvania, Alicia Hoffman now lives, writes, and teaches in Rochester, New York. She holds an MFA in Poetry from the Rainier Writing Workshop and is the author of three collections, most recently ANIMAL (Futurecycle Press). Her poems have been published in a variety of journals, including The Night Heron Barks, Tar River Poetry, The Penn Review, Glass: A Poetry Journal, Typishly, One Art, and elsewhere. Find her at: www.aliciamariehoffman.com