Still Pondering Voice

A lovely metaphor for voice: Today at the Franklin Gem and Mineral Show, one vendor had a display of Tibetan bowls that rang out one lovely vibrating note when a wooden pestle was "stirred" around the outside of the rim. The sound of the singing bowl was lovely and pure. Unaffected. Unexpected. The vibration that produced the note also traveled down into one's hand.

After hearing a bowl sing, it is impossible to look at it and think, "It's just an empty bowl." "Empty" ceases to exist as a concept after having heard the bowl sing. It would be like looking at a violin and thinking, "But it's just an empty wooden thing."

So many surprises today at the gem and mineral show: living creatures from millions of years ago now set in stone; colors and shapes cool to the touch that began as molten lava; little bits of this curious world that we seem ill-suited to comprehend. And bowls that sing, pitch-perfect.

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each bowl
its own clear
trembling song