Elegy for Distant Harmonies

In the whispering tones of England,  
where cobbled streets cradle echoes of lutes,  
ancient songs drift through misted mornings,  
a bittersweet symphony that fades like twilight.  

Across the seas where rivers carve their names—  
America’s heart beats in jazz and blues,   
a pulse alive with stories woven from struggles,  
triumph suffused in every chord struck on weary strings.  

Canada sings beneath a blanket of snow,  
the hush cradles secrets of the north—  
sweet folk tales rise with the frost-laden breath;    
each note is a maple leaf falling gently to earth.  

And Australia’s sunburnt land reverberates still;    
didgeridoos call to vast horizons—an echoing dream-   
of Indigenous rhythms entwined like roots deep in soil,
where surf meets soul under endless skyways.

Together they form an unbroken circle:   
migrations carved by melodies that wander long past dusk.  
Each nation offers its own benediction—     
sonorous prayers sent out over oceans and time.

Yet what rises now but silence?   
An ache for connection we can’t quite grasp,    
music fading into memory's obscured folds,
as bright flames dimly flicker against shadow's advance.

O England! O America! Canada dear!
Australia! Where are your harmonies today?      
In cafes tucked away from city noise or
under stars that twinkle familiar yet distant?

Let us gather these threads spun from love and loss,
weave them anew into elegiac verses—
for each strum recalls our footsteps tread lightly
upon this shared ground beneath painted skies.

Sing forth and mourn—the notes may tremble,       
yet they carry all who dared to dream larger bonds.
For beyond borders drawn deep between sea & land,
our music lives—a testament held tight within hands.