The Hymn of Life

Out of the silence whispers
the first rustle of morning,
wind in leaves,
the stirring of a sparrow,
then the full-throated song.
Soon the full-throated world
joins in the symphony of daylight:
the hum of tires and horns,
the trucks waking the world
on the busiest byways,
through tree-covered hills and shouting cities,
the chattering televisions and squawking phones,
the ringing of hammers and school bells,
awake, awake, awake,
all sounds rising and echoing into a hymn of life,
of wondrous laughter and terrible pain,
of boisterous cheers and tenderest love,
of praise and joy for the mystery of it all.
This is the world, come to sing,
to make its glad and grand music,
calling trumpet and clarinet to weave a tale,
piano and drums to echo the heartbeat
of infancy and age, trouble and triumph,
filling our days with dancing,
making its magic into the darkest night
until the last note says 'Amen'
and slips into silence again,
when the heart rests, remembers,
dreams itself to sleep,
and waits
for the music to begin again.

--Timothy Haut, 2013