The Wonder of Wednesday

Watershed Wednesday is like a gold axle
around which the massive stone of the week spins.
We listen to your voice on Wednesdays,
differently than when you call,
though it is a joy to us however we hear it.
It is a such a beautiful voice, your radio voice,
so polished and professional,
so resonant, so soft.
No one could hear it without envisioning
not only a beautiful woman behind it,
but a beautiful person,
and a mind full of wonder
for things simple and complex alike,
full of enthusiasm, anxious to be fascinated,
happy to hear the intricacies
of someone else’s passion,
happy to make it your own.
We listen to it with the same pride and pleasure
with which we watched you dance and sing,
leap and tumble, run the base and hit,
every chance we got.
We listen to your voice,
so professional and perfect,
and think of the beautiful little girl
who stuttered like a king
and how we told you it was because
you were so smart and thought so fast,
that your voice just couldn’t keep up with your brain,
but that it would learn to,
and you believed us and worked to make it true.
So we hear in your voice the echo of a victory
won long ago but resounding still,
and we marvel at you,
as we have marveled every year on this day
at the latest form of your perfection
and realize that what makes your voice so beautiful
is that it is always so full of love.

©WILLIAM JOHN WATKINS