The Guide of Unexpected Victory
Music and Poetry
In 2018, I collaborated with a musical composer who took one of my published poems and made it music. My poem offered the words to this song, and she set it to music. This, alone, is tremendous and a massive complement.
It did not stop there, however. It was later performed in front of a live audience. It did not stop there. It was later performed by the founder of the Cortona Sessions for New Music in Cortona, Italy for the festival’s 10th anniversary.
It did not stop there. It would continue to be performed across the US.
And, just this May of 2022, another musician wrote me asking for permission to translate it into German so his audience would understand it before he performed it. I never knew this was a dream of mine until it happened.
In my search for support in Boston, I ended up meeting the founder of the Boston Book Festival. We had nice talk, though I felt awkward the whole time masking the immense pressure of unemployment and the loud desire to scream for help. We talked about the festival’s history. I shared that I had learned early into entrepreneurship that it is wise to look for the unexpected victories. At this point, “Fissure” was performed in Italy just a few months before. Debbie took a pause, “now that is an unexpected victory.”
I honor this. This random poem I wrote one night after feeling especially lonesome has become a global experience. Not even my literary idols have had this happen, nor the literati who are published in The New Yorker have this.
I respond to this call, and I accept that I must write.
I continue into day 34 tomorrow of this 100 Words for 100 Days.
More soon,
Trevor