Mitchell Geller is a poet and essayist. Born and raised in Greater Boston, where he still resides, he has a BA in English Literature, and did his graduate studies in Children’s Literature. His work has appeared in The Melic Review, Sonnetto Poesia, WORM, The Lavender Review, Umbrella, and 14 x14. In 2009 his poem “Monarch Nmemonic” won the annual New England Shakespeare Festival Sonnet Competition.
Spring 2012
Table of Contents - Vol. VIII, No. 1
Poetry Fiction Translations Essays Reviews
Mitchell Geller
A melancholy cellist, world-renowned
for his superb ability to coax
four strings into mournful, sumptuous sound,
could play no more. The deft, caressing strokes
grew stiff and clumsy. Heartsick, he withdrew
to his country retreat, where nettles throve,
proud and prickly, and lured -- as nettles do --
a nightingale, whose song filled the moonlit grove.
The man bade his servant to fetch his cello.
The bird and the musician harmonized;
his hands adroit, his tone now smooth and mellow,
his heart at once peaceful and energized.
At times, when pastors and physicians fail
a patient must consult a nightingale.
© Mitchell Geller
