week 466 ~ when the world sounds like music

when the world sounds like music
take a deep breath then join in
no matter what song you pick

you’re alone stuck in traffic
driving home from where you’ve been
when the world sounds like music

savor the moment things click
it’s one time you’ll always win
no matter what song you pick

happiness has no yardstick
no set place it should begin
when the world sounds like music

it passes you must be quick
to actuate your break-in
no matter what song you pick

you know you’ll land in the thick
of a landscape wide open
when the world sounds like music
no matter what song you pick

week 443 ~ it enters through the backdoor of my mind

it enters through the backdoor of my mind
music sneaking in plans to occupy
falling out of its pocket no use try
-ing to pretend it won’t win even blind
men see its power pushing me ahead
on a path I can’t help but follow though
it seems to lead where no one sane would go
I press on relentlessly nearly dead
on my feet who knows the reason for my
obsession with this quest perfection won’t
ever be mine but regardless I don’t
stop to read the reasons I shouldn’t try
for love and hope promise to purge my sins
completely as the melody begins

week 442 ~ light on a passing breeze

“Et la mandoline jase
Parmi les frissons de brise.” – Paul Verlaine, Mandoline (1869)
(And the mandolin chatters on/ In the shivers of breeze)

light on a passing breeze
wafts a most joyous sound
charged with lost memories

intertwined histories
laughter notes run to ground
light on a passing breeze

mandolin melodies
some unknown some renowned
charged with lost memories

across the centuries
sweet tremolos resound
light on a passing breeze

play the tunes as you please
they’re waiting to be found
charged with lost memories

now it’s your turn so seize
them they’re yours this time ‘round
light on a passing breeze
charged with lost memories

week 441 ~ a world of music beckons me

a world of music beckons me
I enter with my mandolin
and sturdy travelers we begin
our trek through many lifetimes see
the path unfurl its history
of jongleurs lutes sad serenades
courtiers barbers renegades
we follow hoping they somehow
knew that we would and somewhere bow
acknowledging our accolades

week 440 ~ it’s time I headed to Rio

it’s time I headed to Rio
I’ve been away for far too long
rekindle the lost spark of song
I found so very long ago
if it’s still waiting I won’t know
until I leave comfortable
behind and give in to the pull
of wanderlust crazy to heed
the call but this is what I need
to drink in choro ‘til I’m full

week 420 ~ as I reflect on all that I can see

as I reflect on all that I can see
knowing there’s so much more invisible
now but poised waiting down the road for me
I toast the kindness of grace my cup full
of life’s bounty as it’s turned out to be
and I wouldn’t trade the incredible
sirens’ song that brought me here finally
to accept time’s gravitational pull
for love desire sorrow even pain
have gifts to share treasures that still remain
as my heart ever vigilant dreams on
tracing the faint line evidently drawn
by music long ago and far away
its mystery anticipating this day

week 418 ~ anticipating

anticipating
what note will go where
music unfolding
anticipating
each moment holding
the listener there
anticipating
what note will go where

 

week 406 ~ like the soundtrack of a movie

like the soundtrack of a movie
our notes hit the air disappear
some reach their mark while others clear
out heading for eternity
or a time people listened we
continue for the few who care
perhaps longing to be elsewhere
still we play while most ignore us
eat drink laugh yell oblivious
to the music we’d hoped to share

week 405 ~ wrap your notes around my pencil let them

wrap your notes around my pencil let them
fall perfectly aligned onto the page
elegant commanding each one a gem
or at least get me through this pregnant stage
of wishful examining discarding
ideas unwritten phrases grant mercy
as I search for a means of expressing
what’s potent in my dreams without words free
and mysteriously lovely to hear
I’m confounded by melodies somewhere
inside me already their shape unclear
waiting to find a quiet space and there
give birth to what I’ve felt heard all along
oh gods of music let me write this song

week 381 ~ when time has run out for one more chapter

when time has run out for one more chapter
a final tune another slash of paint
across life’s canvas when we can’t defer
obligations or wishes with a faint
hope that there will always be tomorrow
what then how will it feel to reach the end
and slipping past human grasp or sorrow
enter a place unknown where we can’t bend
events to our will or count on love to
keep us safe or offer up forgiveness
for the times we stopped believing in who
we knew we could have been will someone bless
our memory then despite all we’ve done wrong
and smiling recollect our once brave song