You give my life melody

posted by Daniel on February 27th, 2012

I am sitting at my harmonium, in the dark, letting my fingers roam over the keyboard while the last splashes of orange-red fade from the sky.

I am exploring the minor pentatonic scale, making geometric patterns that ascend and descend across the entire range of the harmonium. I'm partway between doing scale exercises and free improvisation, and I'm finding it stimulating in a cerebral, mechanical way.

Then I hear your footsteps, and you enter the dimly lit room from behind me. Gently nearing, you tell me how you're enjoying hearing me play, and give me a kiss on the cheek. It's a small gesture, but as you turn and walk away I notice my playing has changed. I had continued the whole while, smiling and thanking you while my fingers kept meandering along the keyboard. And yet, now it is different - melody fragments are appearing, chord rhythms are coalescing. Song, if proto-song, is emerging.

I marvel at the unintended plunge into melodic creativity that your nearness inspires. Even in hard times, your nearness brings me into melody, the heart of music.

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