It’s not about singing

It's not about singing
Or the way that I feel
When the notes kiss the air
And I fly on these heels
It's not about singing
Nor having a voice
It's about them being heard
It’s about them having a choice.

Heard by the silent
By those that we mourn
It's about staying strong
Through the solace of song
It's not about singing
Or wanting to be heard
In a whisper or in a chorus of glorious chords
It's not about singing
It's about wanting to heal
It's about giving a gift
It's about starting to feel
With a sonorous sigh
Singers take the pain and joys of another inside
And for a moment may give those laden heavy
Respite.

It's not only about singing
It's about a method of thought
It’s about learning to love
Through polyphonic talk
It’s not only singing
It’s not only my heart
It’s how I find meaning
It’s how I do my part
It’s about our community
It's about bringing them joy

It’s the tears that have gathered in my grandmother’s clouded eyes
As her memories fades
When suddenly an old melody plays
Her eyes that ran dewy, awaken
An' now turn alight
As these harmonies flicker
And she remembers a promise
From some hymnal tune
No longer in fear
No longer in gloom
She praises her Father
She leaves the pain with the room
It's the pain of my sister
That has been their with me
When nothing could bring her to peace nor to sleep
But the music she held to her spine
I hold within mine
And I know she is strengthen’d
By the rhythms and poems
I know it will quiet the hell in her bones

It's my way of healing
And healing those around me
It's not about singing
It's about loving and easing
The suffering of another through its sweet symphonious leanings

It isn’t my voice
Only a message I have
That if set to pitch
May pause their world for a stitch
And make hers or his pain less
Sig-nif-i-gant

No.
It's not about singing
Nor these vibrations I feel
When I sing with these souls in this common time sphere

It's not about singing
The chromatic gestures that press
Nor the collisions I feel inside my innermost breast
It’s not about singing, it's about the impact it has

It’s not only singing
It's the light that it brings
It’s poetry put too wings
It’s not only singing
It’s my purpose
It’s me
It’s all about singing
And the kindness it springs.