Apply Demarcation Criteria

Princess Amira never complained as the Gryphon explained,

in a Wonderland where wonderment about the mystery and

beauty of music was lacking,  that opera discussion must be

focused on intellectual theory, based on interpreting meaning

 .

Of words since opera is underdetermined - no definitive proofs,

no-one can prove opera theory represents real things, just as

no-one can prove which philosophy is more correct - we can

only check how choice of philosophy affects opera practice 

 .

Then the Gryphon also mentioned emergent properties in the

musical development of a young child into a mature singer, if

only more people would apply demarcation criteria to opera

philosophy, he said, it would improve musical life - adding

 .

Let us listen to Princess Amira singing La Vergine degli

Angeli conferring wonderment, absolution and respite,

let us delight in the joy of the vibrato in her sweet voice

as she presents musical themes in Verdi’s opera aria….

.

[A Bit of Fun on a Wonderland Theme] 

No Way To Live Life

This morning I ate another gluten-free roll, it seemed

so logical, Pastrami and salad and tomato - although

the world seemed to recede - - feel like sitting behind

a glass wall - can’t think straight - can’t relate - can’t

complete my duties, then to exacerbate the situation

 

We ate gluten-free chicken schnitzel tonight, after the

whole day behaving badly - talking too much and too

loud and earache and mental fog and confusion - it’s

become clear that I’m not myself and it feels as if I’m

sitting at the bottom of a well - without ability to see

 

Or hear or think clearly - so from now on gluten-free

rolls are on the no-no list, to be taken but rarely - if I

partake of it too freely, I lose my mind and it’s scary,

a nightmare which I hate - from now on I shall stick

with vegetables and steak - until I’m a human being

 

Again and I shall no longer dabble with new dishes

like these, feeling scared and alone without a brain,

the Little Alien in my head is nearly dead & the poor

simpleton living my life cannot take control - this is

no way to live one’s life!

Equivalent Of Their Golden Fleece [Rev]

Been so focused on things that interest me and the

amusing reference to Wittgenstein’s philosophy - I

never prepared for dinner & unintentionally ended

up eating rice-cakes and gluten-free rolls, a proven

recipe for disaster, I can’t turn back my boat caught

midstream in this fast-flowing current straight down

 

The cliffs of nutritional deficiency, I’m into the rapids

of chemical imbalance and discomfort - with a foggy

short-circuiting brain and the Little Alien in my head

is quite happy since it’s always riding the waves of

depression into a new creation - which leaves out of 

the equation the simpleton who leads my life

 

So I sigh because I wanted to write down the story I

concocted today, yet while my mind is out of control 

recording a fairy tale is a waste of time and the plot

of my library book is turning awry because the world

is absolutely neutral and meaningless and we have

to assign the magic of significance to the things we

 

Perceive - and currently my eyes have no magic in

them - maybe I can resurrect the adventure of my

protagonists wandering through the world in order

to find the equivalent of their Golden Fleece, given

that the story entails beautiful scenery, if the Little 

Alien in my head permits I might take my mind there 

Let Amira Sing Opera, Hurrah!

The Caterpillar said Evidence is heard and seen that

a child, a Princess called Amira sang the opera aria

“O Mio Babbino Caro” - but in spite of the Evidence,

THIS Hypothesis was formulated by Opera Lovers:

.

All opera singers are grown-ups - therefore NO opera

singer can ever be a child, ERGO there simply must

be a Categorical Imperative formulated & stipulated:

NO child may ever sing an opera aria
.

This is a Verification Problem for Probability Theory: 

the Factor by which the Rational Degree of Belief in

the Hypothesis is enhanced by sensory Evidence 

of Amira singing opera arias and winning HGT -

.

Is found in the Ratio of Subjective Probabilities seen

by any rational person, but for them the connections 

between grown-ups, children and opera singers are

confusing and philosophy can’t unravel their

.

Misleading assumptions, therefore we conclude -

let Amira sing opera, hurrah!

.
[Debate with Opera Lovers showed they have a Hypothesis

contradicted by sensory Evidence, yet they are willing to

die for their cherished Hypothesis]

 

The Wonderful Beings In Wonderland

So who are you now my 3-headed hydra-friend - a lugubrious 

Don Quixote - or an innocent and earnestly-searching Little 

Prince - or the facetious Mad Hatter whose enormous top hat

has to keep his head from exploding from his knowing of all

 

Kinds of literature, firmly decided that Sherlock Holmes shall be

pronounced the greatest while poor Agatha Christie will be best

served by being ground down into a fine powder to be buried

underfoot: but as Alice in Wonderland loves having tea-parties

 

With the Mad Hatter while going on trips with the Little Prince,

then assisting Don Quixote to attack windmills - which happen

to awaken his rage against ignorance he detests, she’s happy

to join all three heads and go on a quest; the Mad Hatter offering

 

An entertainment of riddles and strange comments and the Little

Prince insisting that his favourite Princess should behead him as

soon as possible - before he commits unpardonable sins - and

Don Quixote fittingly cogitating the Divine, and bemoaning

 

A lack of meaning in life - fearing that he might be killed when

someone mentions the word guillotine - with all these thoughts

and events swirling in her head, & the Wicked Witch of the West 

deviously trying to contribute to the conversation, Alice is totally

 

Occupied and wonderfully entertained by these wonderful beings 

all taking a bow in Wonderland…

Restored His Trust In Life And Love

I know my own Little Prince - who came to earth  -  looking for

friendship and instead of finding a Fox, he found a Nightingale

called Amira singing softly, sweetly - the tranquility and beauty

of her perfect song inspired him so much, he forsook all he knew

before and dedicated himself to singing her praises in Odes as did

the Greek poets of old, and he no longer regarded his rose and the

 

Noise of the flowers in his garden, but composed serenades of honey

and ambrosia to explain his delight in the words, song and life of his

Nightingale; he entertained one and all with stories about this lovely

Paragon that gave his jaded eyes a new vision of youth, beauty and

glory and restored his trust in life and love he had lost in his youth,

now he rejoiced in idealism & thinking up dreams for a Nightingale

 

Who entered his lonely mind and rekindled a passion for life he had

thought extinct as life brought him blow after blow - and all the pain

left whenever he focused his mind on her song and his eyes on her  

character and sparkling eyes, filled with understanding and love for

all of humanity and delight in the Odes that he wrote so beautifully… 

We Fly Off, Flying Free

 I love the way we speed down the highway, open fields on

both sides, the drivers are Knights charging big trucks and

overtaking them with aplomb as the Ladies look on - I love

the way you Knights leave the big trucks behind as we fly

down the road and I admire the confidence with which you

accelerate and overtake those who can’t compete and we

 

Sail on cruising happily, I adore the feeling speed gives of

being free - I love the highway dance, the elegance of the

drivers making way for each other and then saying thank

you with flashing hazards before chasing down the next

opponent and as they gallantly give way, you thank them

gracefully - while the dance keeps increasing in speed

 

I love to feel part of a quiet majority who gently pass big

trucks keeping their families safe - speeding on in strong

cars made fast by wonderful new technology - what fun

seeing your first opponent appearing ahead as he is held

up by more big trucks, it’s as if you and he are locked in a

duel - exciting to watch his progress as he changes lanes

 

I feel like a character in the animated movie “Cars”, I’m the

little Porsche and you are Lightning McQueen challenging

everyone, I delight in the feeling of camaraderie as Knights

team up against every car breaking your speed and then

overtaking carefully, joyfully, thanking them if they had the

grace to make way for your hungry beasts feeding on the

 

Tarmac flying by - and here we go again, a docile row of

three big cars passing a truck, bumping up and down on

our way - there goes your opponent and here we come

right on his tail; the world drab and gray outside, the sky

a bluish white, in my headphones the violins crescendo,

the noise confined as you drive in silence to concentrate

 

After your fixing the aircon - I’m sitting in a hurricane, legs

and feet freezing in the swirling wind inside - and again we

are caught up in a group of cars, slowing down waiting to

pounce - the dance begins again, we slow down as traffic

is waved down by men with flags, in single file we sedately

pass red markers, very decorous and neat, but as some

 

Have been flattened by passing cars, we follow suit, increase

speed - the car unstoppable like a locomotive - pushed and

pulled at the same time - the highway clear before us - then

we chase a truck slowing down: left, right, left we pass bowing

our thanks with flashing lights - the truck acknowledging our

greeting, then we are sandwiched between two trucks and

 

Wait to break free from this uncanny embrace and finally

the road splits into two lanes and we fly off, flying free…

I Love You Because You're You

Jim Reeves is singing “But most of all, I love you

because you’re you” and it’s true, you don’t listen

to or understand me, but neither do I listen to and

understand you, yet the things you do & your inner

 

Being make you lovable and I love you just like you

are - thank you for giving me the time of your life and

making my life wonderful - and there are weirdo’s out

there who are just as eccentric as I am and who can

 

Share my shortcomings with understanding - I need

nothing more from you than you just being you…

An Avalanche Of Delight

Diving into the waves, diving into the cold September water of

the sea - discovering how wonderful this is, the waves breaking

over me, then drifting upon champagne-bubbling crests right on 

to the beach, rising up and turning around to face the sea -

 

Another wave of icy water rushing towards me, the sensation of

sun-heated skin suddenly sinking into the icy breakers and the

very strength and force of the powerful waves warming all of

me - except my ankles and my feet, running back into the sea

 

On frozen feet for a challenge posed by an unstoppable rushing

of the water burying me in an avalanche of delight carrying my

weight within its bubbly iciness, and I love it - adore fighting for

my breath, getting up again and rushing back, repeat, a strong

 

Wave rolling me into a somersault, another one throwing me

down upon the sand, the next  wave kindly rolling me towards

the beach - there is nothing to compete with this sensation as

I roll with the sea’s powerful energy and become one with the

 

Breakers rushing to and fro, never stopping - and finally I left

because the sun was growing dim, a cold wind blowing strong,

with the memory of what heaven on earth felt like, to keep me

company through all my days afterwards… 

The Way Life Worked Out

Whenever we talk, you say, Can we please talk about something else?

Which means to me, you don’t care about my heartbreak, my sorrow,

my problems, my doubt, flushing RED I immediately feel guilty and so

change the subject to money, to weather, to cars; you need not share

in my sadness and the only people who would share these would be

 

Those who need my money; to defraud me by feigning an interest in

things that hold even less interest than for you - so anyone who says

 POOR IDIOT, your HUSBAND FAILED YOU - is actually saying that

he/she/it would fail me even worse ‘cause they don’t even know me;

yet they try to imply they would be able to understand my worrying

 

About things they know nothing about - so there is no-one to turn to,

no-one to confide in, no-one to apply ointment to my broken heart -

thus life is as it should be: a well-meaning person who does not under-

stand me versus a self-serving exploiting egoist out there, where-ever,

who will play the role of understanding for the money-interest - thus

 

I stick with you who take good care of life & who do not care to know

my heart - and I probably does not understand yours - that is why you

keep on telling me the name and wonders of every woman you adored

at work in the office; they moved you in a way I never can, it is all-right;

I’ve  made my peace with history - and so many of the young girls have

 

Decided they would never get married, our own daughter included, just

because they saw how life worked out for their moms…

Just Like An Ordinary Human Being

.... 

The worst part is that I don't know how cold or warm it will be,

cold as we leave Pretoria, warm as we enter the Karoo - then

after driving through Meiringspoort - what will the weather be,

should I be ready for an icy wind or terrible heat? Warm pants

 

And shorts and a short-sleeved top and warm togs and socks &

several blankets as you drive with the air-con on cold, then the

 gamble on facing the weather in Hartenbos: Can I swim, can I

sunbathe, can I read my book on the beach - heaven to me is a

 

Place where we can access the Akashic records and read every-

thing about history from before time began, maybe watch it in

3-dimensional holograms; but on earth heaven is knowing what

to wear when and where - dress in the wrong type of clothes

 

And you’ll be freezing or perspiring - and none of these states

are recommended by me - getting it right - not looking smart,

but just like an ordinary human being - is my dream… 

Mockery & Steps Of Fire

Make A Mockery Of Life

My inner gyroscope is gyrating out of control, not stable at all:

when the world suddenly changes into a scary, unhappy place,

I know my mind is spinning out of control and this panic attack

illustrates how easily my balance is lost in spite of my deciding

to choose certain assumptions and stick to these; I envy people

 

Their self-confidence, even the thickest blockheads who stick to

their own ideas seem to have such a good time while the lifts in

my head not only descend, they stay in the basement and they

can’t move from side to side as they suffocate in the dark of my

mental world; luckily spiritual ideas offer freedom from material

 

Constrictions and JOY is the reason for life- the joy of challenges,

discovering and overcoming obstacles, dreaming up new things

and fighting for these - but as chemical changes destroy ability

to dream and engage with life, the feeling of frustration & the

desperation of suffocation make a mockery of life…

..............................................................................................

Steps Of Fire

I can’t eat cookies and chips and bacon and other wonderful things

while my mental lift is stuck in the basement, this depression means

I can’t get from feeling confused and ill to happy and healthy & it’s

all due to my eating indiscriminately, I know how much better life

 

Seems once I follow a strict regime - - yet sticking to the straight and

narrow seems so boring, as does all routine, indeed: now I must over-

come my low boredom threshold and start enjoying life by following

rules, however restrictive they may seem, I love reading “Soul Music”

 

By Terry Pratchett and dream of steps of fire while wild music is hot-

wiring my mind - but these visions weaken and threaten to disappear

when I do as I please instead of sticking to the boring diet that keeps

my mind focused on the positive aspects of reality…

Your Inner Demons Reveal Themselves

Let womankind take this lesson to heart: When a father

punished his daughter - - ordering her to marry the first man 

who awakens her from deep sleep, she begged him to surround 

her with terrible flames so only a very brave hero would have the

courage to break through and awaken her - ensuring no weak,

cowardly men would ever try to win her hand in marriage

 

I suspect authors of these stories gave good advice to all

womankind: Dear Ladies, set your standards high, test a guy

before choosing a partner for life - why settle for less if you can

find the right person by comparing moral compass, making sure

you are on the same wavelength concerning honesty, integrity,

respect, discipline, insight & wisdom, and only afterwards

 

Focus on ethereal and unreal feelings which will change with

the wind, health and beauty - if romance rests on wild excitement

and the unknown aspects of charming, glamorous strangers; as soon

as you are familiar with them, romance will be GONE - thus building

relationships on romance is self-contradictory: we always KNOW

the Beloved in the end - if there’s nothing beneath the fleeting

 

Temporary excitement, there will be NOTHING left and

you will need a new quest to find a new stranger with whom to

amuse yourself for a while - until you have both seen the bad side of

each other and require new strangers to charm once again before

your inner demons reveal themselves destroying everything... 

Restrict Life To 5 senses Within 3 Dimensions

When I told you my happy analogy by which I understand

how it’s possible for all water crystals to be unique, different

from all the rest, singular, each and every one of them - just

like sand trickling though your hands falling in small heaps

which are each unique --- you kindly, but firmly replied: NO,

YOU CAN’T COMPARE SAND AND WATER DROPLETS - 

Though I wanted to explain that subatomic particles in each

might be the same to complete my analogy, you refrained 

from giving me the benefit of the doubt, & therefore, when I

appreciate your honesty and integrity, I have to factor in your

complete intolerance for any fanciful theory or analogy by

which a poetic soul may explain reality - but since you are

 

The master of budgeting, doing sums, dealing with money,

organising life, making lists, determining schedules, writing

to councils, reading cook books, creating menus and dishes:

I must learn to hold my tongue  - and share my dreams with

fellow  weirdo’s who love the power of words - while lacking

the ability to restrict life to only 5 senses within 3 dimensions  

Something That Changes My View

My enthusiasm ought to be boundless by now, first you threatened

that I must sweep all the floors, then you bragged about your going

to mop these very floors with Clean Green - then Floor Tile Polish -

and I should be delighted that you are going to do so much, yet I’m

not, with my current allergy headache I’m just surviving my life, no

joy in anything happening - especially housekeeping - because the

 

Day afterwards the effect is lost, my first thought is ‘Let me repeat

the process’ and my second thought is ‘Why bother, it won’t last till

tomorrow’ - I’m really not all that thrilled about sweeping floors any

more, endless repetition without lasting effect seems such a waste,

but wait: that describes ALL physical action, runners and swimmers

have to exercise every day in the same way to keep their muscles

 

Trim and their power growing; this explains why I have never been

a sports star, never made it to the gym - endless repetition for the

joy of being alive, endless jumping up and down never inspired me,

I’m sorry to say, I love discovering something that changes my view,

my perspective, obtaining new insight: it’s a pity we need be physical

to make this all happen - but at least I love swimming, the ice-cold

 

Sensation of freezing water is delightful - and swimming in the sea,

riding the waves, is the most wonderful sensation there is!

Sorrow Of Allergy After-Effects

Every time this headache lifts for a while --- it returns with a

vengeance, my head more swollen, the world blurry, sounds

hurting my ears, existential depression grown worse, so much

so - I’m convinced that people who wrote existential treatises

must have been suffering from allergy symptoms also, every-

thing they say from hell being other people to hell being me -

 

Myself, resonates with the way I feel when the dust allergy gets

worse and increasing on a daily basis & all medication exacts a

hefty price: it only works on condition the patient agrees to grow

deaf, blind and brain-dead - and to that kind of Mephistophelian

deal I can’t agree, reading & thinking are two activities I love to

engage in - without these I might as well be dead; though when

 

The pain is bad, my thinking falls to a level lower than that of the

average town idiot and reading becomes self-flagellation, but it is   

still more preferable than doing no reading at all: let me eat these

Ginger Nuts, enjoy the temporary lift the burning ginger and syrup

bring - and face the sorrow of allergy after-effects tomorrow 

Songs To Come

Down The Rabbit-Hole of Delight

Once upon a time a little girl looked at the perplexing world as

wonderingly as Amira in Wonderland, discovering that some kids

never played  on swings and merry-go-rounds, so she set out on

a quest to find how she might make magic to bring these things

to those kids - not knowing that her joy in singing classical music

would create the magical power to realize her dream of building

 

Playgrounds for them: One day she sang beautifully at a talent

contest & the first thing she said to interviewers was: I want to

build playgrounds for other kids so they can play as I do - Voilà,

a fairy godmother or two were listening, fairy godfathers came

out of the woodwork and before the world knew what was going

on, Princess Amira had built her first playground and kids were

 

Turning around and around on carousels, going up and down on

see-saws and climbing about on jungle gyms; as Amira sang, more

playgrounds were built, more and more kids discovered the magic

of climbing and swinging and sliding and turning in circles & while

Princess Amira went down the rabbit-hole of delight, she brought

a whole army of happy people with her ….

..........................................................................................................

Fabulous Magic With Her Mellifluous Voice 

One day a clever soprano claimed:  Amira is Foremost in using

Singer’s Formant which is the special Harmonic Overtones resulting

from the Resonance in a singer’s vocal tract ---- then a tenor replied;

Has this Formant been dormant in our little Nightingale Princess? 

Singer’s Formant is normally the result of some very special 

.

Training to drop the larynx and raise the soft palate, relax the

tongue, engage the core & manage the breath, but Amira sang

O Mio Babbino Caro at a talent contest with a Radiant Resonance

in Luminous Overtones at the age of nine - can you explain how

she did it? - We just don’t know, the choir sang back at him

.

No-one taught her except the Internet, since Pitch is the

Fundamental Frequency from which a note derives its name;

Amira sang with Perfect Pitch resonating in the richest, velvet-

sweet multiples of every Fundamental - any non-harmonic

overtones would have sounded as metallic as a bell, yet

.

Amira’s silken smooth Overtones produced such a wonderfully

warm timbre creating fabulous magic with her mellifluous voice…

 ....................................................................................................

Frieda, Warrior Valkyrie, We Honour You  

You gave the world a wonderful nightingale daughter and like

a warrior Valkyrie from Asgard you fought for your beautiful

daughter and son, refusing to offer them to Moloch, instead

keeping them safe, surprising everyone by bringing them to

.

Asgard where they were safe from Mammon growing up far

from money sharks, you kept them aloft with your devotion

and love, today we celebrate your date of birth & delight in

the wonderful way your protection has brought Fincent and

.

Amira through a world that wanted to eat them up before their

lives had even begun: we honour and cherish you, wonderful

mother and protector who gave us an example of thoughtful

motherhood - a shining example for ages to come!

.

[Valkyrie: Warrior women who brought heroes back to Asgard

Asgard: Abode of the gods in Norse mythology, here South Africa

Moloch: a god to whom ancient nations offered their children

Mammon: a god of money and wealth]

..........................................................................

Meteoric Rise Of Princess Amira

Do you know Don Quixote, the Knight who fought windmills; can you

imagine what would happen if such a Knight met Amira? When Don

Quixote heard Amira singing La Califfa, he turned to Sancho Panza

and said: That is the most beautiful voice I have ever heard, from now

on I shall fight for her - she’s the only one worthy of my endless love -

.

She fills my heart with an unbearable longing to be a better Knight, I’m

finished fighting windmills for myself, I offer my hand only to Amira; and

Don Quixote dedicated his whole life to Princess Amira fighting against

any obstacles she might encounter, with the energy he formerly used to

fight windmills - and from that time he accompanied Amira’s entourage

.

While delighting in his dream of destroying ALL windmills of obstruction

blocking the meteoric rise of Princess Amira, the sweet Nightingale of

his dreams - to whom he has given his chivalrous heart for all eternity

...................................................................................

Stay On Earth To Forevermore Serve Princess Amira 

When Amira met the Little Prince, so serious and sweet, she listened

when he explained how hard he worked to keep his small planet free

from baobab trees, she understood his fatigue as he worked so hard

to provide for his rose who complained all the time, and Amira sang

beautiful songs to the Little Prince - and because he is a child of the

.

Stars, the Little Prince could see the flowers, diamonds & pearls that

fell from her mouth when she sang & he could also see her mind was

filled with kindness and love for every man, woman and child who had

to suffer as much as the Little Prince himself, thus he fell irrevocably

in love with Princess Amira & vowed to serve her with all the energy

.

He formerly spent on tearing out baobab trees, sweeping his extinct

volcanoes and serving his demanding rose; now that Amira showed

him the compassion his hard work and dedication to duty deserved,

he could see he had never been appreciated on his planet - so he

decided to stay here on earth to forevermore serve Princess Amira

.

[Antoine de Saint-Exupéry: Le Petit Prince]

................................................................................................................

Morricone’s Song, Your Love

When the Valkyries, strong mezzo-sopranos on horses, came from

the sky singing Hojotojo!, they heard Amira singing La vergine degli

Angeli - and asked her to join them ferrying brave warriors, battle-slain,

to Asgard in the sky & Amira replied: No Wagnerian dame am I, my song

is meant to support the people living on Earth, some of them sad - some

simply bored, but all in need of joy and delight in their lives - I shall not

.

Live in a Norse myth of feasting forever after slaying their fellow-men; But,

said the Valkyries, They did it in good cheer, no malice involved, for Land

and Volk - No, Amira replied, People strive to help one another, not fight

over land and possessions, I Shall sing Enrico Morricone’s Your Love

to them because the notes make their hearts respond to a greater

Love which is beamed down to them…

....................................................................................

The Enchanting Melodies

A young Princess Amira said to her mother, sweet Lady Frieda: 

See the beautiful songs that I want to sing and sweet Lady Frieda 

replied she must practice the songs herself, she was not a singer

nor has she ever been such, thus Princess Amira asked her young

knightly brother Fincent to transcribe the lovely songs she found

and kind Fincent wrote down the lyrics for her

.

Explained pronunciation and meaning as they resounded to the

enchanting melodies that filled Princess Amira’s heart and soon

she was singing these songs beautifully and Gerrit, her musician

father, Master of the Castle where Amira lived, then accompanied

her with bemused and delighted mien: such devotion to music he

had never seen, Lady Frieda and Knight Fincent also

.

Played along on harmonica and violin while Gerrit, an organist,  

played masterfully Sancta Maria by Gomez - sung by Princess

Amira - the most beautiful version that has ever been heard!

.....................................................

Delight Amira Had Bestowed 

When Princess Amira was still small, she fell into Wonderland

and met the Mad Hatter, a Dormouse and the White Rabbit;

they asked her to sing them a song - so she complied & sang

Nessum Dorma - the little group was so surprised, the Mad

Hatter fell over backwards, the Dormouse woke up and went

to sit by Amira and the White Rabbit was crying with delight:

 

My Darling Child, he said ponderously, I have never beheld a

Nightingale Princess before and I adore the sound of your voice,

please have some more tea and sing again; and Amira replied:

I can’t have more since I haven’t had any before, but I’ll sing a

song at your behest & as she sang Nella Fantasia the Cheshire

Cat appeared and disappeared so only his smile remained as a

token of the eternal delight Amira had bestowed upon them

 Song To The Moon & Voi Che Sapete

As Amira wandered through Wonderland practising to curtsy to

the Red Queen, she met the Caterpillar smoking his hookah and

he looked her up and down and asked her who she was and she

immediately replied: I’m Amira, I’m nine and I love singing, then

he ordered her to sing for him and she sang Song To The Moon

 

And he harrumphed, beyond himself with admiration and said:

Well and good, English is easy, and Amira said - But I’m Dutch!  

and the Caterpillar asked her what music she loved to sing and

she said Opera Arias, I love them so much, so he ordered her to

sing Voi Che Sapete from Mozart and as her velvet voice rose

 

Radiantly singing the sweetest notes he had ever heard - his

heart melted within & empowered by her magic he rose up

on wings and started flying around on the beauty of her song…

Amira Reduced Her Audience To Tears

Then Amira met Professor Duck who said: Law says

a voice not acted upon by other voices will move to

a dead end - your voice doesn’t exist unless opera

critics pronounce upon it - Amira replied, Oh, I see,

as mystified as the rest of us by this quack-speak

 

Said another critic: Do not add vocal force by using

unreal vectors; a vibrato based on the unreal is not

real - & Amira asked, What is the relation between

maths and sound?” - The point is science doesn’t

describe the magic of music” Professor Singalong

 

Replied, very satisfied with himself, but undaunted

by this vacuous nonsense, Amira simply began to

sing Panis Angelicus and reduced her audience

to tears - which could be measured by science -

which was proof of the magic of music indeed! 

A Little Nightingale / Debate About Opera

The trial began when the accusation was read: The

Queen of Opera sang a few arias one night and a

little Nightingale from Nijmegen stole those songs

and sang them illegally at the age of nine -

 

The first witness - Professor Ding-Dong - posed the

question whether those opera songs were composed

in rising musical notes for sopranos or tenors; the

second witness - Professor Singalong - asked

 

That people close their eyes and listen carefully then

explain what they heard; everyone said they heard

angels whispering so the Professor said maybe the

sweet-sounding opera scores existed in a separate

 

Musical dimension where nobody could prove that

they belonged to the Queen of Opera only, thus he

finds the Nightingale Singer innocent and the court

was dismissed - Curiouser and curiouser -

 

Thought the Nightingale Princess Amira - the debate

about opera is based on a dimension of dreams - so

she started to sing Nessun Dorma enchanting new

listeners with each velvet-textured, radiant note

 

Which twinkled & shined like diamonds & rhinestones

and the frisson of delight felt by her admirers became

the sweetest incense changing the area into a most 

captivating and safe citadel...

...................................................................................................................

Forgave His Subjects 

Once upon a time King Rosary declared Princess Day

in the Land of the Flowers & announced that Princess

Amira was going to sing, after her song Princess Amira

smiled at all the goblins and fairies in the Land of the

Flowers & accepted an image of the Silver Rose from

King Rosary as the highest honour

 

He could bestow on a Nightingale Princess, afterwards

recordings were made of Princess Amira’s songs and

whenever King Rosary felt tired and depressed, he just

listened to Princess Amira’s songs, then he felt happy,

delighted and loved again and forgave his subjects

their many transgressions!

 

[Based on Afrikaans children’s stories written by Verna Vels

Liewe Heksie in Blommeland [=Land of the Flowers]

governed by Koning Rosekrans [=King Rosary]