The loveliness 
Of meeting a dear friend
On the east side of 
Midtown, in 
A coffee shop
That is also a florist
Feeling like I was sitting in a
​Modern day fairy forest
Surrounded by roses
And the chatter of voices 

What a joy and a luxury 
To see such a gorgeous sumptuous opera 
The way Zeffirelli paints on the stage 
Using bodies and sets
And splashes of color 
The way a soprano's voice can float across the hall 
All the way into the gods 
What it feels like to watch over a hundred people
Lift their hands to the sky together 
Puccini's soaring score 
Resonating in my bones 
Remembering Abuela playing the music 
Thinking of her
And how much she would love this 
How thankful I am
For the gift of
Enjoying opera

As an usher
There is something 
Hilariously humbling
In pushing a squeaky wheel
During a quiet moment
In full view of 900 people 

The discovery of a new app
To help prevent food waste
Led to an adventure on the
Upper west side
At the last moment 
I jumped off the subway
At a stop I've never been to before
I navigated the grid and
Landed a "surprise bag" containing 
Two different curries
A box of rice and
A giant piece of naan
For the princely sum of $6.52
The luxury of a phone to download the app
Of funds to buy the food
A quiet place to sit and eat 
The disconnect of later seeing a man
Begging for help
Next time I'll order 2 bags 
And pass one along. 

On a chilly but 
Gorgeous blue sky day 
Lunch with a dear friend, then
Coming home
Sweeping and mopping
Wiping down the counters 
Scrubbing the toilet and the tub
Putting on the laundry
Sorting through emails 
Cooking up some food for the week
Making the bed with fresh sheets  
Feeling ready 
For the week ahead 

Two friends 
Out for a night on the town
Seeing a show
One was dressed in pink
With sparkly boots 
And holographic sparkly tinsel in her hair
(that she had borrowed from her three-year-old)
And the other in gold sequins 

A mother with her daughter 
The daughter, a little flea of a thing who needed two boosters to see over the rows
Their excitement was palpable as they carefully read through the Playbill 
Acquired t-shirts and buttons and then went back for the other shirt
Because why not?! 

​And finally, 
​Earnest discussion 
About to how to cast 
The Muppets 
In Hadestown 

A last minute email
Tickets available today! 
Free! 
A sitzprobe 
(Sit and play) 
of Dreamgirls 
Conducted by Seth Rudetsky 
At the New York Library for the Performing Arts
Featuring musicians from MUSE 
Musicians United for Social Equity 
An organization with a mission
To diversify music in theatre 
And a starry cast of performers 
Sharon Catherine Brown
J Harrison Ghee 
Brenda Braxton
Among many others   
Attended by a small but mighty audience 
Who spent the afternoon in the rapture 
Of a 35-piece orchestra
Playing a fabulous score
With some of Broadway's best
Belting to the rafters 
It almost felt like church
It was glorious 
And in between the songs
Seth regaling us with stories from the original production
How the show was made
The work of the actors and dancers 
The decisions to include songs and cut others 
Michael Bennett, Bob Avian, Henry Krieger, and Tom Eyen
The devastation of AIDS on the original company 
The devastation of AIDS on the artistic community of NYC 
The power of the music
Sharon Catherine Brown absolutely slaying 
"And I'm Telling You"
The way the other leads held her in an embrace as she wept at the end 
The way Seth asked her to describe what it was like
To sing the song with a full orchestra instead of a 
GarageBand of tracks 
The way the tears streamed down her face and she said
"You cannot replace what is real" 
You cannot replace what is real. 

The NY Times recipe called for
Noodles dressed in
Peanut butter, parmesan, and soy sauce
A seemingly contradictory combination 
But sometimes the unexpected 
Is where you find
Joy

In year 3 we were taught the basics of recorder
Mr Scutts was our music teacher
Grumpy and unapproachable
But also a talented musician and
The composer of our school song
Trees and birds
And fields of green…
He later died of cancer 
Was he grumpy because he was in pain? 

I enjoyed the recorder so much
I must’ve asked for one at some point
Because I had one
(Even though I was teased endlessly for it) 
And a kid’s book from which I taught myself to read music
I can still almost picture the page that taught the G above middle C
It had blue on it

A girl the year above me played piano in a school assembly
I felt jealous because she had access to a secret world I wasn’t allowed to be a part of
I wished for years to have a “proper instrument”

And then in high school
I joined the beginner band
And picked the flute even though the bassoon seemed interesting
A flute was the lightest instrument to carry on the bus
And didn’t require reeds
Which would cost more
And require replacing on a regular basis

But the ability to read music was a gift
Being a part of the school choir
And Sydney Schools Singers
Going to State Music Camp
​Playing the flute and passing exams 
Singing in the Olympics and
Schools Spec
Moving to London and
Going to drama school for musical theatre
Moving to New York and
Singing with MasterVoices
Teaching voice
It has all bought me so much joy and
So many friends

And every single time
I read music
I feel joy that I can

Often the world feels exhausting 
And broken
But kind words
And encouragement
To do the thing 
Feel like gold in the cracks