Poetry [ongoing]

Listen (free verse)

[This originated as a refrigerator magnet poem with music-related words. 

March 8, 2021]

CW: implied mentions of death

Listen

Listen—

lean in and you will hear

the universal beat of every heart

melting into the rhythm of the world

The song of life begins

as the gentle timbre of a spirit

strikes a chord that resounds

in oscillating overtones through the earth

It is not a solo, but an orchestra

of hundreds, thousands of players

whose melodies interweave

in a glorious cacophony

Rising, swelling, soaring into a crescendo—

voices, although distinct, merge as one

and revel in the splendor

of their resonant unity

And the sound fades at last

a fermata over a rest

as ringing silence sets in—

an ending, abrupt, unexpected.

Does the song die?

No. Even as its tones dwindle,

the echoes of its final note

whisper the story that it told

Long after its music is spent,

it reverberates among those who remain

and it can be heard—woven into the songs of souls—

if you listen hard enough.