18 October 2026

By Philip Kuepper

Music is made
when blades and water meet,
music for a rower to play,
a boat to sing.
What kind of music depends
on the mood the water is in.
A smooth mood means easing listening.
The chop means rock,
and roll, if the rower isn’t careful.
Out on the water, cross currents cause
jazz riffs,
when improvisation is everything.
Of course, the oars, themselves,
are of the reed family,
and aren’t above fluting
the boat forward. And when a wind
makes of the water a violin,
the boat acts a bow across it.
And the rower’s heart?
It beats with excitement, like a drum.
It ticks like an inner clock
keeping time. And the rower’s soul?
O!, it moves to the mellifluous
sounds of a harp, each string plucked,
like an angel’s wings at lift-off.

(28 September 2026)