Classic and Contemporary Poetry

CHORD, by STUART JOHN DYBEK
First Line: A man steps out of sunlight, / sunlight that steams like grace
Last Line: As it folds into its case.

A man steps out of sunlight,
sunlight that streams like grace,

still gaping at blue sky
staked across the emptiness of space,

into a history where shadows
assume a human face.

A man slips into silence
that began as a cry,

still trailing music
although reduced to the sigh

of an accordion
as it folds into its case.