Maestro, Virtuoso, Aficionado

Originally posted 10/26/2011.

Maestro
play on

It’s said that in the hands of a virtuoso even an attic-bound instrument, ignored for years,
may make music strong enough to bend walls.

Maestro
my maestro
play on 

My history being its own reward and punishment at once,
I am expected to live entirely within the words maestro and virtuoso.

Virtuoso
Maestro

What do I call myself now when, my instrument all but played out,
I seek clarity in the use of a single string?

Aficionado
I am obsessed with the hunt
Maestro
I am forsaken

I’ve been told that nothing made on the single string is performable,
yet here I find myself facing an audience who expects performance.

Maestro
I am the impression of you only
Aficionado

Under command of the single best note.
In awe of the silence around it — 

ossessionato

can one perform silence?
As maestro, as virtuoso. I must try.

I am no longer maestro
I am aficionado

Am no longer virtuoso
I am aficionado

The audience sits on their hands, expecting something more.
But what could replace this?