Searching For Joy in the Music

It was just after six a.m.
and I was minding my own business,
waiting for the heater to erase the cold,
sipping my coffee – the new brand I found.
The blinds were all open, of course.
As I watched for the dawn
to illuminate the whispers of fog
on the peaceful water of the lake beyond.
Music. Ah, music.
For it is one of those mornings
where the music must flow.
As I write those words, I chuckle a bit
at the thought and knowledge
of where the music can lead.
Musical paths meander with unpredictable
routes that too often lead
to dark and distant ports of call.
But surely not this morning.
Surely not as the sun is rising
for those dangerous destinations usually come
with the dark, with the gloom of night
and, in the past, sometimes fueled with alcohol,
which I long ago learned is far too dangerous for me.
A fuel that threatens to allow the music to take me
and keep me not just for that night
but into the night never ending.
Let’s push those thoughts away
and fall into the music.
Find new voices that may lead to new places.
Maybe a voice that brings joy
like this sun now rising and spreading gold
across the trees beyond the water.
Sure. That could happen. . .
And we should end with a sardonic chuckle here.

Michael Mathews
6:42 AM
Sunday morning
On the lake listening to Jacqui Naylor “Only Love Can Break Your Heart”