May There Always Be Music

May there always be
summer nights 
where cultured people 
     appreciate 
culture and gather murmuring 
sighs and politely clapping for 
talented hands and feet and voices

May there always be art and
history and may we never 
     forget 
how to sit under stars in round
amphitheaters that could be 
any where or when
May there always be 

strings and grand pianos and 
     center stage
May no final bow ever be 
THE final bow 
May no tyrant take this from us
These simple human 
      timeless
acts

It may be 
that this poem has been written before 
by another woman afraid 
of what is unraveling around her
And yet this prayer bears repeating:

May there always be music 
May it always bring us together and
back to ourselves and may we 
     live 
to pass it on 
in peaceful times to children 
not yet born

- EKG'25