The Man Who Listened To The Stars: A Tribute to Murray Schafer

Listen to the music of the stars, he said                 

A billion billion notes of light
Resonant spiral galaxies
Astral arpeggios
A luminous cosmic composition
Proclaiming
Miracle
Miracle
Miracle 

Follow the thread of star-music, he said                     

Give back reverence for radiance
Give back light for light 

Drumming at the edge of magic
Riding thunder across the sky

Chanting a pathway to holiness
Learning the language of wind  

Dancing the body past fervour
Partnering with prayer  

Give back reverence for radiance
Give back light for light  

Call it mystery
Call it sacred mystery
Call it home  

But midst the marvel discord sounds
There’s anguish in the forest
Trees are falling fast to the blade
Rivers are writhing with toxins
And animals lost with the loss of the wild
Desolation sings descant over the world  

Hold fast to the thread of star-music, he said
Hold fast to the star-song of wonder
The beginning of the melody of healing 

Be a voice for the trees… exuberance in your lungs
Be a voice for the rivers… rapids in your bloodstream
Be a voice for the animals… wild with the animal in you 

The miracle is not lost
Tune your senses to the world around you 

To the east
Dawn unfurls a scroll of golden calligraphy
To the south
Blackberries astonish the mouth with the taste of sun
To the west
Twilight pours molten sky into lake reflection
To the north
Balsam enchants with a fragrant allure

As above so below
A luminous cosmic composition  

The miracle is not lost
Listen to the music of the stars, he said            

Ecstatic listening
That can change your life 

Ecstatic living
On earth
And elsewhere 

Give back reverence for radiance
Give back light for light  

Call it mystery
Call it sacred mystery
Call it home  

Rae Crossman 

Published in MusiMid  Brazilian Journal of Music and Media Studies