My Orchestra

This is the twenty-fourth poem in my song-inspired poem series, and once again we’re going down the path of memory – I think a lot of these songs, at least for me, inspire the topic of memory, even if they themselves aren’t connected to specific memories (although sometimes they might be!). It’s also more along the lines of the topic of music, which does feel suitable for this series in particular. In any case, I hope you enjoy this one!

First Poem In This Series: To Witness, To Behold, inspired by ‘Sowing The Seeds Of Love’ by Tears For Fears

Previous Poem In This Series: Seeing, inspired by ‘As The World Falls Down’ by David Bowie

My Orchestra

In a college classroom, on a random day
of a random month in a random year,
I was told the difference between music
that exists, and music that doesn’t–
we do not have soundtracks to our days;
there is no orchestra following you through life.

The following moment of pause,
the preparation for another sentence,
was filled in by a chorus–its identity
has been lost to the haze of memory,
but its ironic existence remains,
as sharp and bold as the permanent marker

that danced across bathroom walls,
and intermixed between the meaningless,
the frustrated and the angry,
would be lyrics–not frequent, not always,
but enough to be remembered, in essence,
and if not bathrooms, then buses,

and if not buses, then under desks,
and painted across brick, and hiding
inside tunnels–and yes, not always,
but sometimes, and sometimes is enough–
the orchestra has to have their break–
and I am telling you it is written

only because the evidence of the brain,
what the ears have heard but could not hear,
seems so flimsy in comparison–yet still,
in those few seconds, as I wrote down notes
in a random college classroom, on a random date,
during a random hour, I thought of both

myself, my brain, and the hundreds, thousands,
unthinkable millions and billions of minds,
souls, lives, with their intricate differences,
coincidental shared experiences, and so many eyes
to see the world through, and I knew I could not
be the only one, looking over my shoulder

for my orchestra.

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