Wednesday, January 11, 2017

January 11: Soundtrack of My Life, Track K. Smith, "The Universe: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack"

I always wonder what the soundtrack of my life would be.  My early life would probably be dominated by the Star Wars theme by John Williams.  Luke Skywalker and R2D2.  Later, the 1980s, the soundtrack would be be Risky Business and Amadeus, a mixture of rock and Mozart. 

In the 1990s, I became a church organist.  "How Great Thou Art."  "Amazing Grace."  Got married in 1995.  Became a father in 2000.  Dora the ExplorerSpongeBob SquarePants.  And now?  We're back to Star Wars.

Saint Marty has come full circle.

The Universe:  Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

by:  Tracy K. Smith

The first track still almost swings.  High hat and snare, even
A few bars or sax the stratosphere will singe-out soon enough.

Synthesized strings.  Then something like cellophane
Breaking in as if snagged to a shoe.  Crinkle and drag.  White noise,

Black noise.  What must be voices bob up, then drop, like metal shavings
In molasses.  So much for us.  So much for the flags we bored

Into planets dry as chalk, for the tin cans we filled with fire
And rode like cowboys into all we tried to tame.  Listen:

The dark we've only ever imagined now audible, thrumming,
Marbled with static like gristly meat.  A chorus of engines churns.

Silence taunts a dare.  Everything that disappears
Disappears as if returning somewhere.


1 comment:

  1. Cue ominous music as Darth Vader approaches... at least your son already knows who his father is, sparing you that dramatic reveal.

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