in the earnest evening
we sang a sacred song
of golden twilight gleaming
for those who're laden long.
we harmonized, and sympathized,
ancestral lives and lions --
for in the earnest evening comes
our forbears in
the silence
I grew up in a family of instrumental musicians and singers and became one myself at a very young age. At the rather advanced age I am now, that has pretty much devolved into weekly playing the piano and organ and occasionally writing or arranging music. I can only barely sing, but like most people who can’t really sing, I love doing it… so long as no one can see or hear me.
Recently, I have found myself remembering a lot of obscure songs I heard in my youth and this being age of YouTube, I have been able to find most of them. Sometimes I remember songs almost perfectly, but most of the time, I only really remember bits and pieces.
Old music always reminds me of my parents, who met singing, loved singing, and had us singing together as a family from my earliest memories. I hated singing in public, which they could not comprehend. People who love to perform have a hard time understanding those of us who would just rather not.
There’s something about music that I find to be… ancestral. I’ve always loved ancient music, and maybe that’s why. The poem above is an effort to get at that feeling.
How does music most move you?
My Mum and Dad met through music too, singing and playing mandolins. Both played piano, and Mum played the harmonium/organ at church. I had a good singing voice as a child and, at school, remember being put with the girls to sing because most of the boys were useless and/or disinterested. I quite often had to sing solo, and always dreaded it!
We have a number of musicians in my ancestral family as well. An uncle does like to sing and perform guitar. I have always sung and I’m not bad but I always had anxiety about performing when I was playing my guitar as a child. I have since let the guitar mostly go. I did enjoy composing music on computers in the early days of computers (when I had more time and the “right” technology). I played the flute at school at 9. Now I still sing with my daughter and play djembe sometimes and her beautiful harmonium drum. Sometimes we get out the tambourine with her 4 year old fingers on the traveling keyboard and my husband on the ukulele. 😃
Gorgeous imagery and words to go with it. Golden twilight gleaming – love that line.