Thursday, December 28, 2006

What if?


The flags are half mast today. I thought it was because James Brown died. I know that I'm dreaming, but what if? What if a half-crazy American musician was just as important as a President?
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What if, when a musician died, the music, all the clock radios, the stereos, the bands playing salsa and reggae and jazz, the radio stations, the whole wonderful, musical world stopped singing?
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What if, when a poet died, the whole world ceased for a moment, hung its collective head and wailed, "This is called heartbreak; how will we live without her poetry?"
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What if artists, not a Picasso or a Ruben, but the artist working in Central Park or in cold studios on landscapes only tourists will buy, what if the flags fell down for them?
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What if a writer, working alone day after day, writing for no one but herself, wrote her final line? Would all the pens run dry? Would she be honored with salutes and pomp and better circumstance?

What if potters, dying with hands covered with talent and clay, left this earthly home? What if the world cracked open just a little, crying "My life will never be the same without her beauty?"
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What if the flags flew half mast for actors, for the joy and the laughter and the sorrow they have brought into our lives? What if, when an actor died, the bells stopped tolling for just one hour? What if every curtain fell?

What if a dancer sank to her knees as she whirled, leaving this place called earth? Would all the tangos suddenly stop? Would every castanet be silent for just one day?
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What if?

4 comments:

Rex said...

Love this. What if all the world was at peace? Great things to think about for sure.

Anonymous said...

What if everyone on this earth made it their life's goal to try to give away as much as they could instead of living life just to "get"?

Your message today is was thought provoking...we all have our endless lists of what if? Here's one for you...what if we all stopped sitting around thinking and saying "what if" and actually took some action to make it happen? LU

Anonymous said...

I have sifting through the recovery blogs, and they are soooo fomulaic. Yours is a nice breath of fresh air. Thanks for the nonconformity.

www.pigeonhole.wordpress.com

Judith said...

This is just beautiful. Those are the things I see god in.

Thank you.