Jun 30, 2018
MAJOR MUSIC STUDIOS
The glitter of a drum set caught my eye
but I told Mom
as we passed by the gold trombones
in the shop window
that someday I wouldn’t mind
learning guitar. But I was surprised
how quickly she ushered me into the shop
where a cluster of cowbells clanked at the door
and the walls were covered
with mandolins, dobroes and Gretsch
hollow-body electric guitars.
For nearly an hour I wandered about,
breathless before those feminine shapes
until I had to cough to catch my breath.
Words can’t explain
the burst of elation felt that day
when a three-quarter-sized Spanish guitar
tinted in shades of orange and brown
was lifted up from a plush-lined case
and placed in the cradle of my young hands.
Mark Madigan received his MFA in Writing from Spalding University in Louisville, Kentucky. His poems have previously appeared in The American Scholar, California Quarterly,The Louisville Review, Poetry, Tar River Poetry and other magazines.