Not Today

‘Music is the emotional life of most people.’
- Leonard Cohen

‘Lately I’ve been believing that music predates speech.’
- Debbie Harry


You sit. Lightly touch
the keys. Ah, A minor.
A favourite chord.
You can’t resist it.
Today ‘the livin’ is easy’
and you play: Summertime -
‘fish are jumpin’/your ma is good-lookin.’
You can feel your light heart rise
as you lose yourself
in the music.
But then you leave that tune behind
and begin to improvise
over its sequence of chords.
You should have resisted.
In no time it is Autumn;
you lose that living is easy vibe
and sense a change, a chill,
as icy notes fill the space.
Winter! It pierces your heart like a gibe.
Such a melancholy mood is descending;
the sound of sadness
and loss is in every dark corner. Discord!
You stop playing.
If you continue you just know
that words to accompany the new
cold blue melody will be bound to follow;
they will fall like snow,
fill your head
and demand to be written down
before they melt into nowhere.
You won’t be able to resist them
but you don’t want to have to
write them down. Not today.


These Words