Music, The Muse

MUSIC IS DIFFERENT THINGS.

It is the hallowed and the immaterial.

It is truths written through the stencil of wisdoms.

It is the percussion, the base,

the harmony, the acoustic

and it is the clang of the cymbals.

It is the heart song, the party mix,

the live act, the street performer,

the choreographer that moves along with each note.

It is the drummer who gives birth to the beat,

and it is the pianist whose fingers play from memory.

It is the jembe, the bullhorn, the triangle and the trumpet.

MUSIC IS EVERYWHERE.

It is the answer contained within the riddle of riddims.

It is in the foot tapping, the hip shaking,

the lip pouting, the jig making and the flow.

It is called home by many

and yet plays out like a soundtrack in everyone’s life.

It is the soul, the poetry,

the ballads, the blues,

the jazz, the hip hop,

the rap, the rock,

the roll, the pop,

and the jam session.

MUSIC IS IN EVERYONE.

It is the off-tune song sung in the shower,

the a capella genius of street-corner boy bands.

It is the beat box, the freestyle,

the battles, the beef,

the wars, and love affairs.

It is in the school teacher,

the university professor,

the heart surgeon, the artist,

the builder, the cleaner,

the ceo and the unemployed.

MUSIC IS FOR EVERYONE.

It is for the leaders,

the followers,

the masses

and the individual.

It is for the blind,

the deaf, the mute

and the ignorant.

MUSIC IS EVERYTHING.

And I carry it with me wherever I may go.

Namaste

Religion, Faith & Culture in Writing

An enlightening conversation, which I took no part in, played itself out this particular afternoon in a minibus taxi. Two men, of no certain age or disposition, fiddled with topics ranging from the meaning of names to the culture of spirituality.

This reminded me of the common error that we writer’s make in discovering the characters that make up our stories. We treat one’s religion as an obstruction to their true selves, and in that single misconception we miss the point entirely.

There are indeed those whose religion is far from being their faith, but then there are also those whose faith alone is the culture that sustains them and will pass on to their offspring, God willing. In any case, as a writer, it is imperative that one develop characters in such detail that when the reader is introduced to said character the only flaws are human flaws not gaping holes of inconsistency.

Check your spelling. Check your grammar. But, most importantly check your common sense.

Namaste