How did music start? Was it the whistle
Of a flying lizard that struck an ear,
Startling that neanderthal—a missle
That evolved? Hell, they could whistle, make queer
Sounds, listen to heartbeats, invent rhythm,
Even fashion instruments from bird bones.
Those ancient flutes—aural crystal prisms—
Mimic calls of animals, insect tones.
We really can’t explain how reeds and horns
(Those bowed, plucked strings) and opera emerged—
But once invented, music grew, took forms
Enraptured all of us in its rich surge.
It grew and grew, baroque and classical,
Romantic, modern, tonal miracles,
Along with blues, and jazz, and crooned bourgeois,
And rock and roll, and rap, reggae and ska.
(1/22/14)