Hearing Ravel's String Quartet In A Crowded Coffee House,5: 30 Pm

The stillness of this music surprises me. It does not move and yet changes continually. It becomes at every moment more than itself. I sank into the ease of the music, as the musicians relaxed into their mastery, their faces showing only the joy of performance. I drifted in and out of the sounds as I tried to write a poem of sympathy. (You know this story, my friend, I won't belabor the failure of words at this time.) Those sounds, rising above the chatter, enveloped me, and Music and I became a single being, attentive to the vibrations of the larger world. I felt a goal I had not reckoned had been achieved, and its benefits spilled over the edge of things and filled the awareness of people of good will everywhere. It was as if I stood in the midst of everyone and danced a dervish dance summoning all to universal sympathy. It's true we can indeed touch the World Soul and feel its wholeness within our souls. And in that homeland of unified souls peace will descend and embrace even the most vexed soul among us. The music, having fulfilled its purpose, fell into a deep repose. And the rest is silence. (This poem is dedicated to the victims of the earthquake in Northern Iran in November,2017. May they rest in peace.)