The Great Symphony

Looking back down the centuries to the beginning,

If there ever was a beginning,

I hear the great symphony of man and womankind

Playing and replaying its many themes.

Each generation produces its own melodies,

Sees them as unique, as dramatic, as never expressed before,

And yet I hear the same themes, repeating and repeating —

The terrible marches of war and slaughter;

The lullabies of lovers and of mothers and the newly born;

The strong rhythms of the pioneers and the merchants and the builders;

The excitement and sadness of the young;

The disappointments of the old;

The rumble of natural disasters, of flood and famine,

Fire and earthquake;

And the low song of death,

Singing its slow counter-theme below them all,

Singing and singing.

Each movement is the same and each is different,

And the heart is broken and the heart is fulfilled,

And the babies become men and women and have their babies

And so it all goes on.

Scatter your words like seeds

Cast your words into the air —

Who knows who will catch their echo?

Cast your words into the fire —

Who knows what strength will be forged?

Cast your words like seeds over the earth —

Who knows where they will grow?

Cast your words into the waters —

Who knows on what strange shore of the future

They will be found?