Perhaps Only I Could Hear - June 2 2023

 

Perhaps Only I Could Hear

June 2 2023

Her accent disappeared

when she sang.

Of course, her voice would have been just as lovely

in her native tongue.

While I am not musical.

I might sing alone

   —   in the privacy

of the car, the garden, the shower  —

but when compelled to join in

I do it under my breath,

and even when I hum

can't hold a tune.

But off key or not

is this the true power of music?

Erasing boundaries.

Obscuring the identities

that sometimes unite

but more often divide.

Because we are all one in song;

our Babel of voices converge.

Although in hers

there remained a touch of the lilt

I'd always found so charming.

A hint

perhaps only I could hear

when she closed her eyes

and gave full throat.

Whatever it was that moved her,

whether rock-and-roll, or opera

lullaby

or dirge.

And when she went soft, as well.

Tearful songs

of longing and loss,

love songs

whispered into the ear.

The words she wrote

for me alone

and the sweet music they went with.

A simple tune

that even I 

could easily carry.