Strike Up the Band

In every corner of the earth
a song plays.
It changes
ever so slightly,
shifting and morphing
as you travel around the globe
through various mountain ranges
and cities
and seas.

The rhythm,
the harmonies, 
the ways the music weaves in and out,
the combinations of instruments:
They all form the soundtrack telling
who
and why
and how
that place is.

And
everywhere you find yourself--
be it for an hour or a century--
you find that--
for better or worse--
your own melody,
the instrument you are,
and the way you sing your life,
you join the symphony 
or cacophony
that is there.

You may find
the dissonance 
is more than you can bear
and you cannot stay for long.

Sometimes, the tunes overlap
in a pleasing way
for just a verse
or two.

And sometimes--
when you’re lucky--
you find the orchestra 
you 
​were always tuned to play with.