Joe Dolce: ‘The Ballad of True and False Singing’, ‘Daddy Plus One’ and ‘Empty Strollers’

The Ballad of True and False Singing
(anonymous—translated from the Italian)

When a tiny quail huddled beneath the wall,
proclaims quiet poetry in her call,
I cannot hear louder songs at all,
for singing big is not always how the singing’s measured,
but often by the soul that’s still and true,
Maestro-singers reveal treasured
declamations of God’s perfect view.
Few possess it young but all become Masters yet
in verse, ballad or canzonet.

Ah! a world of Maestros of every grace—
the poor student can barely find a place.

Joe Dolce

Daddy Plus One
for Blaise van Hecke (1968–2022)

Not my birth daughter, she was the sun,
a loss her mother can hardly bear,
she said I was her daddy plus one.

No warning, no illness, a sharp stun,
she was taken from us, so unfair,
not my birth daughter, she was the sun.

She left behind her first love, two sons,
two brothers, a sister in despair,
she said I was her daddy plus one.

We comfort each other but she’s gone,
for what’s broken,…