It always takes courage to create something, to stare down a blank page and dare to put something on it, …anything. To dare to regard yourself as a writer or a creative, to embrace it as a calling, a vocation, is quite another thing. That takes considerable courage. It is a common experience, though, it seems.

Miriam’s whimsical and impish account in her poem “Who Comes Calling?” of her own journey of wrestling with her creative efforts and her calling as a poet is courageous, humorous and compassionate. I resonated with it rather deeply. I, too, have wondered what good did writing music ever do me? Does it benefit my children and family? Would I be better off doing something else? But it seems that such callings can be persistent and annoyingly insistent.

Coming up with the initial ideas for this cello piece proved as elusive as Miriam’s poem at first. It seemed it too had fled between the stars. However, after finally finding inspiration, it proved a fun and engaging companion.

The cello duet roughly follows a sonata form but within it I have tried to convey the playfulness, impudence, melancholy, frustration and triumph of bring something to life as contained in Miriam’s poem.

I am thankful also to Luce Duet who kindly asked me to contribute to their repertoire and launched this wondrous adventure.