The Musician

Speak of small things quietly to yourself,
nod if there are any answers, smile
spontaneously for no reason while
you wait like every book on a shelf
to be opened for the lines to escape,
new images and symbols are our hope.

Stay in tune as if a loved instrument,
a saxophone or guitar in its case,
available for music anyplace
whenever the sounds of song are absent:
beautiful melodies we have not heard
are freed, a story with each note a word.

Ben Gage