Young Speaks of Young Musicians

I came across a great passage in a Dean Young poem I was reading for a class. Like the many I've read in this collection, the all-you-can-eat buffet of high and low brow language makes his writing accessible and intriguing. It’s amazing how aphoristic each passage becomes; no matter how simple and pedestrian the imagery may seem at first, something much greater lurks behind it. The lines begin with absurd humor; but, then, we reach a thought-provoking conclusion:

Do not encourage small children
to play the trombone as the shortness
of their arms may prove quite frustrating,
imprinting a lifelong aversion to music
although in rare cases a sense of unreachability
may inspire operas of delicate auras. ("Whale Watch" from Skid)

I cannot help but ponder. If music instruction proves too testing, do we awaken a few phenoms without producing countless hacks? The kid pictured above may be the next artist signed to Sony Classical. However, he'll have to develop much better posture...