Sheryl Crow, Burt Bacharach, Beatles, Smiths,

the Carpenters, the Proclaimers, Britten, Elgar,

the late great Nat Cole singing "Paper Moon,"

Starling Arrow's river-benediction ---

YouTube Premium is my soul's own chapel,

oasis of beauty amid my life's clutter,

songs sacred and profane, to lull, enchant,

to soothe what suffers and to heal what hurts.

Musical love-pulse, heartbeat’s cordial rhythm,

sublimest secret and most common clue,

what lives and gives me courage, quickens the dead—

grace of a voice, and peace of the plucked string,

silver moon-melodies, noises brazen-bright:

the heaven-balance setting mood-scales right.