Listen to the Music

[Ken_Nye]

Listen.
Listen to the music.

Listen to the forest harmonies
of trombone groans and English horn sighs
of big half-downed pines,
leaning on their neighbors
as the forest sways in the wind.

Listen to the faint sound of children singing
their joy of friendship and the wonder of living
as they jump rope in the school yard
down the street.

Listen to the young mother singing a lullaby
to her baby as she sits in the air terminal
waiting for the call to board,
oblivious to the milling hundreds around her,
fretting about cancelled flights and stormy skies.

Listen to the little girl at the lake water's edge,
singing to herself a story-song about
the princess who lives in the castle she is creating
with drips of sand.

Listen to the midnight howls of coyotes,
singing the songs of their ancestors,
challenging the presence of humankind
in a world that belongs to them.

Listen to the taxi cab driver,
humming with contentment
in a job that allows him to talk to
other people all day long.

Listen to the young man
in a whiteT-shirt
and apron,
singing his love for his girlfriend
as he washes pots and pans in the hotel kitchen,
dreaming of tonight.

Listen to the music.
Listen.

[LynnDoiron]

Hi Ken -- lovely stanzas for any one to listen to. I think you may have intended "faint" rather than "feint" in the children playing in schoolyard stanza. And I think your penultimate stanza is stronger if the teenager is just a teenager and not designated by race or culture. Of course, I am often wrong about these things, but that's my two cents. Glad to read your work. lynn

[Vasile Baghiu]

I see you say we should listen to the life's music, Ken, and I see you are convincing. Pleasant read. Thanks!
Vasile

[antman]

Ken,
I agree with lynn on the last stanza it steals away
from the body of your work.

anthony

[Nan]

Ken, this poem is music to my ears. I enjoyed the songs. The repetition works well.

[mfwilkie]

What an enjoyable piece, Ken.

I love your use of repititon: it works well
and doesn't overwhelm the poem.

Great opening.

Listen.
Listen to the music.

Listen to the forest harmonies
of trombone groans and English horn sighs
of big half-downed pines,
leaning on their neighbors
as the forest sways in the wind.

And I really liked the image this stanza creates.

Listen to the little girl at the lake water's edge,
singing to herself a story-song about
the princess who lives in the castle she is creating
with drips of sand.

I've a couple of suggestions for this stanza, Ken, to maintain tone.:
First: 'here and there' might be better presented as
'to their destinies'.

Listen to the humming taxi cab driver,
hauling people here and there to their destinies,
content with his a job

And second: what if you re-phrased these last two verses along the lines that he's content with a job that involves him in so many different lives even for a few moments.

These two lines seem a bit weaker than the endings of the other stanzas to me.

that lets him talk to other people
all day long.

All in all though, a very nice read.

Maggie

[Ron Wallace (Scotshawk)]

I'll admit I had no problem with the black boy in the original, but I think it works better with "young man". I think the repetition works well here too. It takes on a different style for you but your voice picks it up quickly and makes it familiar. Nicely done. Ron

[MichaelFirewalker]

this is a powerfully creative song, Ken----it speaks to the peace that is you, and it draws us into that peace too----I love how you quietly and repsectfully celebrate the beauty of the souls around you----what a perfect Easter poem!

michael

[LynnDoiron]

I think your use of repetition is what creates the music in this poem, ken. I came to read it again after reading your Walking the Dogs posting.

Glad to have read this one again.

lynn