listening to contemporary soundscapes on the radio
I realize I am the  age of my grandmother
when she was terrified that I was
happily howling the latest Beatles  songs
and trying to play them on the piano which
    for her
was a sanctuary of late 19th century music
she liked to play with virtuosity and passion

much of what my culture radio station
calls contemporary music
or pop music stations praise in their charts
does not really catch my ear either

times keep changing

for me
  
    ever since my mother died
    on the day spring began
    eleven years ago

my joy over the annual reburgeoning of life
also evokes the memory of death

I know
death is unique and final
     spring is eternal

but all the lovely flowers sprouting forth
always remind me of my mother’s love
of flowers and all other natural beauties
like sea shells  pine cones  precious stones …

maybe it was appropriate
    after all
for her to leave this earth
when it brought forth new life again
    bursting into renewal
as if to compensate us
for our loss

wake up early
    turn on the radio
    listen to the early morning news
dozing off again for a while
     listening to the longer morning news
doing some wake-up exercises
grind coffee  & prepare my morning smoothie
have breakfast while reading newspapers
     do obligatory things
fix lunch
     while listening to the mid-day news
have a nap
     do obligatory things
check emails, viber, whatsapp & such
visit the hellopoetry site
have a merienda
    while listening to the evening news
do more obligatory things
enjoy a gin&tonic, or some such
communicate with our loved ones
     watching the late news
play a few card games on the pc
     for relaxation
     watch the midnight news
fall into bed
wrapped in the comfortable daily monotony
to be repeated tomorrow
and tomorrow   and tomorrow   and tomorrow…

a tender fog
hides our view
of what might be
a face most beautiful

but we don’t know

as local laws are such
     that beauty only shows itself
to spouses predetermined
by the wisdom of the elders

who demonstrate to have
     no  understanding
of human wishes and desires

listening to the news
that brings disasters of all kind
with reliable regularity
     thanks to our sensationalist media

you may be tempted to believe
the world is going straight to hell
apocalypse is near & unavoidable

     whether by asteroids or comets
     the Russians or Americans or Chinese
    
fact is that rising ocean levels
are much more dangerous than changing presidents
flooding the fields and homes of millions
     in the lower lying islands of the South Pacific

the cold oblivion of the powerful
about the real people’s tragedies
is what I find most missing
in the so-called news

listening to Benny Goodman’s smooth version of  ”Tiger Rag”
composed at a time when tigers where not yet an endangered species
     when soldiers were dying in World War I
     and would die again soon after Benny first recorded it in the 1930s
    
I wonder how it is that music can be so divorced from death

maybe because, for the US, wars have always been fought elsewhere,
    except for the Civil War - an issue that still occupies two research institutes

distance seems to create heroes more easily
     even though they are not aware of it
music helps to maintain the division between here and there

only when the draped coffins are unloaded
     those two worlds converge
and our sense of uninvolvement is exploded

in our daily haste to not miss
sales, appointments, buses, flights,
we tend to overlook the world
that gives us all these options

the awe-inspiring heights of our mountains
frightening majesty of our seas
powerful forests breathing life
the elegance of animals
a pleasant view of cultivated land
even the buzzing habitat of cities

we may be only a small part of seven human billions
yet it behooves us well to be aware
     and celebrate
the fragile beauty of our world