Reader poem: ‘The Ermine Violin’
She wore it the way
a symphony swims the sublime
yet barely gets wet.
The ermine violin was a phase
in the life of music.
She understood.
It was finite
and described by dolphins
as they leaped through the surf.
It denied decay
and embraced beauty transfigured: the melody
we’d always been promised.
James Bertolino lives near Bellingham.
This story was originally published March 2, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Reader poem: ‘The Ermine Violin’."