Stirred, Not Shaken

Stirred, Not Shaken

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Stirred, Not Shaken
Stirred, Not Shaken
Small Plums and Mahler's Fifth

Small Plums and Mahler's Fifth

a poem by Jane Hirschfield

Angela Cummings's avatar
Angela Cummings
Apr 08, 2024
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Stirred, Not Shaken
Stirred, Not Shaken
Small Plums and Mahler's Fifth
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orange fruits on tree branch
Photo by Elena Mozhvilo on Unsplash

It’s true that I am a sucker for a poem that references a composer or a brass instrument, but that’s just a small part of why this poem endures as one of my favorites—bees seducing a plum’s unaware blossom, the hard stare shared between two young musicians while the audience does not notice; the phrases ‘timpanic clamor

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