this music soothes a tattered soul
as the tears it brings become salve,
which fall from soulful eyes
in the rhythmic pattern of their faith.

one song may have chopping beats,
and a pulsing life, beating away in your breast,
causing your head to fall back, and your eyes to close,
and your body to sway under this snake charmer's spell.

another may be calming, sung by the keys of a piano,
or the strums of chords from an acoustic guitar.
Both will accompany a sad story, stemming from love,
clawing its way past the lips of the lost.

choose wisely, loves, as though picking a mate
because the music will twist itself, smokelike,
through the fibers of your being,and like fingers in your hair,
taking all you are for itself.