Chanting syllables foreign to my ear
Accompanied by strange instruments
Feral noises resound
Primal measured beats
Rhythms sinuously slide
Wild, tempestuous, impassioned, robust
Music derived from many different places:
The sound of the wind blowing on a steppe in Caucasus
A balalaika shrill strumming
The macaw’s call in a jungle in the Amazon
A dithering Andean Flute
The moon glow on Ayers Rock in Australia’s Outback
Like a dingo’s howl, a Digrideroo reverberates
The hoof beats of gazelles galloping across
A savanna in South Africa
Pounding with the tempo of Kettle drums
The rain falling in Ireland in a hidden, misty glen
Nimble, brisk tin whistle notes
An imitative magic
Soaked with the cadence
The passions of native places
In musical interludes, we voyage
To Rio Di Janeiro ,
Dancing the samba at carnival
A Cajun band playing Zydeco
In the French Quarter on Fat Tuesday
A calypso beat from a steel drum in Trinidad
Lounging under a bread-fruit tree
For many years, we listened
Only to songs that we knew
Familiar tunes, constant beats
Played on piano, guitar, bass and drums
Our repertoire now widens
Our ears open to other kinds of music
To cultures not own
To those who love melody,
We are enriched