Making Little Musicals
By
Jennifer Angelina Petro
It’s amazing, isn’t it?
How our everyday speaking
Voices can be elevated
Instantaneously, into singing.
Think of it—one word
You can speak, one word
You can sing—a sentence can
Rise and fall in and out
Of song like the invisible path
Of a butterfly wings.
I know, you might be
Thinking—And?
To which I say: And everything!
Everything is right there
In that simple, effortless
Reshaping of sound, of carrying joy
On the breath from within you.
Perhaps everything said should be sung,
Perhaps every year that goes by
Should be full of song, or,
At very least long stretches
Of each season—Imagine that–
Even if some songs are dirges, even if some songs
Are sung on tip-toe just out of our range,
Even if some songs
Are in languages we do not understand,
Even if some songs are screamed like ones
In a punk band, even if some songs
Are in three-part harmony,
Even if some songs move us
To tears, even if some songs
Lift us into realms of glory–
I think we should try it—sing
Every word for one day
And see how much fun it could be
Making little musicals
While buying a cup of coffee,
Or saying, hello while holding
The door, or sending the kids
Off to school, or arguing over
Politics, or teaching in a classroom,
Or giving a sermon, or while greeting
A pet or spouse, or telling someone
You love them forever.
