take refuge

“Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music” -Sergei Rachmaninov

take refuge in the blues

when the sadness comes without permission

the minor chords, the slow repetition, the cigarette voice,

the dank barely lit bars & the pain drawn out through the synergy of

it all.

 

take refuge in the rock

when excitement is willingly invited

when the hormones race in the summer heat,

the pumped up psyche of your favorite sports event, the speeding in a car down a wide open road, the thrill of the fight outside your favorite bar,

the first kiss, the passion that comes with

accepting nothing & delivering all that you want to yourself on your

own.

 

take refuge in the jazz when perplexed or interested in

pondering,

when the rhythmic beats or painful croon just won’t do,

the meandering notes dancing upon the brain stem & sliding down the spine with

your head buried in a book & consuming the words & images of others,

all part of a bombardment of stimuli

bringing only fresh spontaneity

throughout. 

 

take refuge in rap & the rebellion that ensues within the mind

when the heart steps along the side of the beat meshing

with the metaphors painted in rhyme---

equipped with the minimalist essentials of words culminating mass

illustrations giving feel to actions outside the self

now brought deep

within.

 

take refuge in classical when exhausted from the day’s strain,

the strings & winds may coax the veins into a calm well deserved or

conversely,

the tempo of the timpani, the beating of the drums & shrills of the higher octaves

will shock us alert to the day’s needs

like sunlight baring down in one’s face---

either way, the whole room is filled with an eruption of

sound.