Issue Twenty - Summer 2012

One Voice

By Ande Finley

with thanks to the Wailin’ Jennys

This is the sound of one voice.
One note
beyond music
shimmering like fire
in the darkest ghetto
in the chill of a mountain dojo
buried deep in a billion souls.

This is the sound of one voice.
Galaxies humming
in choirs of stars
carried by wind
in the rooftree of sky,
fir and willow
the rough music of raven
towhee, hawk,
in all the vibrating, glittering web.

This is the sound of one voice.
Speaking a thousand languages
every color, shape, size
of nose, mouth, hip, and brain
every notion of beauty,
wisdom, faith,
every path a certain journey back
to one voice.

Copyright Finley 2012

Ande Finley is euphoric to see her life-long dream of writing full time manifesting here in her remote Lopez forest. Her English major in college morphed somehow into a professional life of crunching numbers and she guiltily filed her writing life away until all her kids had left home. Now, she mainly composes for herself, but her work has appeared in Uncapped, Satsang, and previously in SHARK REEF. With the help of her brilliantly-creative family, she produced her first chapbook, Simply Love, to commemorate her mother’s 75th birthday. She offers heartfelt thanks to her husband Scott for all the years of unwavering support.

All work by