Fifty-Four

Fifty-four finds few to sing her glory.
In what one is must be one's sole reward.
Fair fortune is no substitute for being
The passionate apostle of a word.
Yet endings do not vary with the story.

For her, it is enough to bear the beauty
Of singing one small note of some vast chord,
Unknowable but in the act of seeing
Resplendent the hard road she has endured.