—for Babelle

Whether it is root
chord in a folksy
D-G-A,

subdominant
in some rockabilly
A-D-E,

or merely the major
to B minor’s
aching promise,

D seems always
there in the songs
we figure out,

bent over our boom
boxes, listening
hard to the radio.

And when we lift
our pointer finger
from the G string,

then hammer it
back down, D sounds
even better,

as though music
really was a language
and D was a word

people used often
but took entirely
for granted,

like air or water,
salt or love,
breath or bread.