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The Music Plays On
by L. G. Cullens
(Author of Togwotee Passage)

Long, long ago by our reckoning
man thumped simple cadence on a log,
beckoning bone flutes and rattles
to enliven and exalt his chanting.

Mimicking Nature and imagining,
man increased tonal efficacy,
his music developing in intricacy
diverging from natural harmonies.

Yet to those aware and desirous
Nature's wondrous music plays on,
echoing in the mountains and oceans,
enveloping in the forested basins.

The songs of the humpback whale
to the chittering of the beluga,
and seabird hubbub above the waves,
wondrous in escaping man's bale.

The trumpeting of elephants,
the bugling of elk,
and the scream of an eagle,
speak to Nature's majesty.

The hoo-hooing of the horned owl,
contrasting with the howl of the wolf
and plaintive yipping of its pups,
is awe inspiring polyphony.

The rattle of a diamondback
and growl of the puma,
eliciting barks of prairie dogs,
melds cautionary strident quota.

Night sounds of chirping crickets,
and in the day bumble bees,
whispering to our being
agin the warning cry of a loon.

The dawn chorus of many birds
accompanied by a babbling brook,
and a breeze rustling leaves,
itself a pastoral composition.

In all, orchestration unsurpassed
if only we had ears to hear,
beyond our bustling cityscapes,
and walled in perceptions.

The symphony of life's harmony
fading in our discordance
hopefully returning in crescendo,
therein our real salvation.

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