[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.