Listening ~ A Poem by Amy Lowell

One Music, Many Cadences: Discovering Your Inner Song

We are more than the words we speak—we are the music that flows through every choice, every season of life.

Listening

Amy Lowell

‘T is you that are the music, not your song.
The song is but a door which, opening wide,
Lets forth the pent-up melody inside,
Your spirit’s harmony, which clear and strong
Sings but of you. Throughout your whole life long
Your songs, your thoughts, your doings, each divide
This perfect beauty; waves within a tide,
Or single notes amid a glorious throng.
The song of earth has many different chords;
Ocean has many moods and many tones
Yet always ocean. In the damp Spring woods
The painted trillium smiles, while crisp pine cones
Autumn alone can ripen. So is this
One music with a thousand cadences.

Source

Reflection

Amy Lowell reminds us that our true essence is not in the outward song we sing, but in the deep, abiding music within us. A song may pass, a word may fade, but the spirit that animates them continues to resonate, shaping the harmony of our lives. Just as the ocean shifts moods yet remains ocean, or seasons bring both pine cones and spring flowers, so too do we hold countless cadences within one enduring melody. The beauty is not in perfection but in authenticity—living in tune with the inner harmony that is uniquely ours. To listen to life is to listen to ourselves.

How do you hear your own inner music in the choices and rhythms of your daily life?