Harmony

I was lucky to have a mother who never stopped teaching, even on a shopping trip. – S. Joan

"Now stay on the second note when I go up,"
mother coached me.
So for the 50 miles to St. Cloud in the car
we kept singing, mother repeating,
"When it's spring time in the Rockies…"
until I did it. I heard the harmony,
not just a second part I memorized;
I held my place in the chords,
that day mostly simple thirds
but ever after I could find a place
in a chord, make harmonies,
a gift awakened I didn't know I had
and later in the chapel choir
singers sometimes listened chords
into perfect pitch, the harmonics ringing
in octives beyond hearing,
evoking the sublime.
- by Sister Joan Mitchell, CSJ

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