PostPoems Be Artistic. Be Creative. Be Inspired!

Today I’m grateful for music and for Plato

to his words I often cling :

Music, he said, gives soul to the universe

Wings to the mind

Flight to the imagination

And life to everything…

May we be blessed to understand music 

the way Pablo Casals understood music

Before this world we shall depart…

He believed:

Music is the divine way to tell beautiful

and poetic things directly to the heart

In 1971, John Denver wrote Take Me Home Country Roads

and though in 1997 he passed away… 

I imagine he’d be smiling knowing his song is still being sung today.

Country Roads take me home 

to the place I belong

West Virginia, mountain mama

Take me home, country roads

Country Roads came on the radio in the bookstore the other night

and I found there is still magic in John’s song…

when an older couple in the store began to sing along.

Then a younger couple, then a family with children began to sing along

for a moment it’s as if time had slowed…

and before I knew it everyone in the store, including me,

was singing take me home, country roads..

It was a spontaneous unplanned flash mob…

people of all colors, sizes and shapes…singing that chorus…that verse

and when the song was over we all smiled, nodded to each other

then happily dispersed.

There is a lot of discord in our country at this moment

and it was wonderful to hear and see…

together in the bookstore…this moment of harmony.

When cruelty and brutality become the norm…

When evil is spewing out lies and trying to re-write history

We need more moments when people come together to celebrate humanity.

This was a reminder as this evil works to separate and divide us

wherever we may roam…

together we are strong…we have each other 

Together…we can take each other home.

Country Roads take me home 

to the place I belong

West Virginia, mountain mama

Take me home, country roads.

Today I’m thankful for music…not only the music we create

but nature’s music that is playing everywhere…

Because it does’t matter who or what or how it is created…

Life will always be a little sweeter…when there’s music in the air.

May we be blessed to share music with someone…

so even in moments of silence…

or when we are apart…

We can still be sharing the music 

that now plays within our hearts.

Last night we attended a John Prine tribute concert…and I must confess

in the 72 years I’ve been alive…something must be wrong… 

because although I was familiar with his name…

I was not familiar with his songs.

But I am now!

As I sat and listened to his music I was enchanted…hypnotized.

How wonderful that at my age I can still experience something new…

that I am still young enough to be surprised.

It was easy to understand…as they played his songs

and I listened to his lyrics and each accompanying melody…

How a simple song can make you laugh…

or cry…

or fall in love

as it creates a memory.

And it made me stop and wonder…What have I been doing all these years!

That, until last night, not one John Prine song 

had found it’s way into my ears.

My words cannot express the magic of his music…

and you know what…I don’t care…

I just know life is a little sweeter…with John’s music in the air.

He was a prolific songwriter…

writing over 160 songs in his lifetime…

last night we only heard a few…

Which means it’s time for me to end this poem

because

I have a lot of catching up to do.

My favorite part about music is not only how in life it plays a part

but how certain songs have the ability to attach themselves to our heart.

How once a song attaches…it’s like that song will never end….

and every time it visits…it’s like welcoming an old friend.

I was listening to music streaming through our Alexa the other day

when a song came on that reminded me of a friend who moved away.

Immediately this song became my personal chauffeur….

taking me on a drive through a forest of memories of her.

That same day I heard a song…it was one Elton John performed….

and I was driven to a group of friends…in my old college dorm.

I don’t remember their names…after all…it’s been so long….

but I remember there is happiness attached to that old song. 

When I hear a song that reminds me of Deborah…

as I listen to its music and sometimes sing along

I’m transported to the moment we both first heard that song.

I suppose that’s why listening to music is so easy to embrace

because of its ability to transcend…to transform time and space.

When I randomly listen to music…happily …I never know

If it's a song that once touched my heart…where I’m going to go.

I’d like to spend more time explaining exactly what I mean…

how certain songs set me free…

but the music is still streaming 

and it appears…my chauffeur’s calling me.

I am thankful to be living a life 

where music plays such an important part…

Where the right must

with the right words

heard in the company of people I love

so quickly finds a way into my heart.