Clavichord

Touch me once more, until these separate strands
begin to stir. My inarticulate keys
quicken beneath your soft, attentive hands,

my strings, responsive to your least commands,
give back strange overtones and harmonies.
Touch me once more. Until these separate strands

comply, and nothing hurried countermands
the way in which such gradual urgencies
quicken beneath your soft, attentive hands,

there can be no release—nor sarabandes
of meaning—in these plangent melodies.
Touch me once more, until these separate strands

commingle, and a newfound world expands
between us in this little room. Let seas
quicken beneath your soft, attentive hands,

let continents appear: who understands
this music loosens vast geographies.
Touch me once more, until these separate strands
quicken beneath your soft, attentive hands.

-Jared Carter, from Les Barricades Mystérieuses