The Soundless Performance Poem by Alexandre Nodopaka

I bought a violin bow. Let me tell you how it came about. There lived a frog that rested
on a lily pad in the exact center of a large pond. No it's not going to be a Grimm fairytale.

The amphibian was mechanically inclined and was looking for a good screw to attach to the tail end of the bow for the purpose of adjusting the tension in the hair. No, it's not

about the musicality of pubic hair. He was looking for a clean bush,which made me
think he must've been a male. Anyway, he looked and looked with the help of afairly

long stick that he made of a reed Now came a complex portion of the design that entailed
the spanning of the bow stick from its ebony frog to its headplate with natural white horse

hair. Yes! It had to be made of only such color and equestrian animals because pigs have
only short hair and cannotbe ridden. Oink! Oink! Is not music! A horse was finally

found with strong and long enough hair to submit to the constant sawing motion. And
would you believe here's why Russia is so important to the USA. It's because that's

where most of the bow hair comes from. As a matter of fact, my father once took me to a
Hungarian quartet that for the longest of time performed nerve shattering sounds.

Impatient, as all children are, I asked him how much longer we had to stay. As long as it
takes to saw through the pieces spanning the chin to their outstretched palm was my

father's answer. And here's the reason for me telling you this story. I bought that bow
without the violin because I didn't want to hear the music. All I wanted was display it on

the wall. A piece of found art. A conversation piece. You know.