He chose to break apart the number nine.
Nothing orderly, as in sets of three.
This was a real split with a broken line.
The rebellious shout of a man set free.
No more through blind faith would he choose to use
the standard voice of an ancient rhyme.
Gone were the muses, the nine Belles of Zeus.
As from this point, his bells would clang not chime.
Why view the world through someone else’s lens?
His kaleidoscope shattered all of that!
Better live at sixes and sevens
than to die in a dead man’s habitat!
. The number nine makes a neat solution,
. but more divine was his revolution.

© Tim Grace, 17 August 2011

To the reader: What does it take to break with convention; I presume, it takes a good dose of passionate conviction? I presume, those who innovate have befriended risk and become comfortable in the presence of awkward acceptance. Yesterday, The Beatles’ White Album had another Birthday; an annual reminder of popular music’s helter-skelter pinnacle. The double album borrows from a vast array of musical genres including the stunning ambient crescendo of Number Nine… it’s all about revolution!

To the poet: The Greek’s invented nine muses to travail the mysteries of their universe; at Sonnet 38, Shakespeare construed a tenth: “ten times more in worth than those old nine which rhymers invocate”. As the master of discontent, using non-conventional means, he creates a disruptive energy; invites the presence of new possibility. Sadly, like most revolutions built upon youthful enthusiasm the verve is soon lost. By Sonnet 76, Shakespeare laments his barren verse and ponders a side-ways glance at new-found methods … and to compounds strange; a noted weed!

number nine