A Musical Poem – Translating Memories and Moments into Music

How would your life story sound as a melody? Based on a class session about songlines, a term which describes the Aboriginal Australian’s practice of finding one’s way in the land through music, I wrote an autobiographical poem with a special focus on Berlin that I guide with a variation of Yiruma’s “River Flows in You.” Go ahead: listen in…

 

 

Heart
Beat
began
in the middle
of Berlin
guided by
the heart of my mother
the first steps were my heart’s
following family’s feet
in the arms of mother and father in home and street
I began to crawl
hands and knees planting roots into the ground
I became a walking tree
a growing sea
in the heart of Berlin

where known is discovered anew
in a child’s view
the known is discovered anew

the world a place to
run
jump
play
ask
make
create
laugh
love
live
learn
contemplate
discover
question
investigate
try
reach
and
be

in an island of mystery
its stones and sights testaments of world history
in a local school I learnt to read globally
take steps mentally
conquer boundaries verbally
endlessly

a wandering spirit
a bird flying over earth and seas
over mountains and trees
the universe a mosaic with its wondrous signs
but what about the mosaic that shines
inside?
Who am I?
Where am I from?
Where will I go?

all experiences
memories
persons
events
are like rays shining into my center
external energy
melting with our own
explosive capacities
a new light radiates from within us
we shine

And new light
guides to
new ways