Slip Away, Swim Back
©December 5th, 2017
By Vijaya Sundaram
Music from two guitars in the other room
Weaves its way into this one,
And arrests my mind.
Transfixed, I listen.
It takes very little music
To stop me in my tracks.
I am put in mind of a video of
Elephants behind their fence,
Listening to a beautiful singing voice,
Sensing that a different world of perception
Is possible in a flawed universe.
Most days, my home hums and buzzes,
Music vibrating within the walls.
Some days, the silence sings with the memory
Of that music made here.
I am grateful for this.
When I am old, and when my mind
Begins its slow slipping down the slope,
Sifting like sand through my fingers,
Or the tide pulling my toes into its sinuous arms,
The music and the songs will pull me back,
And I will swim ashore.
I will sing loudly.
I will make the winds listen,
And I will stop the sea.
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