"Music From Home,
you brought me Home"

 

Music From Home, 
   you brought me Home.

Weaned on the cries of The Beatles
   the swooning of The Byrds,
   Bach's pilgrimage and Berio's flight,
   your sound brought me home.

After all the ragas and all the scat,
   The Dolmen Music and The Kora Sutra,
   your sound brought me home.

Seeds of your sound,
   germinated by The Sufi Choir,
   created my awakening,
Through the door of your warmth,
   the window of your acceptance.

Voices I would have never known.
Singing in all their beauty,
   all their imperfection,
   with all their heart,
   through all their fear.

Finally drawing me into this hearth
   to write for your sound.
And felt all my beauty,
   all my imperfection,
   with all my heart,
   through all my fear.

To come to the edge
   and create my own choir!
Dared by re-hearing the music of
   your leader during my time.*

It took me on a Hero's Journey,
   writing nearly impossible works
   that stretched every ounce of plausibility.
Bribing fellow vocalists with
   challenge and rigor,
   improvisor's abandon and
   performer's conquest.

For all this,
   could never have happened without
   your sound . . .
   bringing me home. 


* Doug Bowes



dedicated to the Occidental Community Choir




May 2020 

 

 

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©2020, Michael Smolens