Silent Song

In her Deep Brown Eyes
Swam the Silent Song of the Dove,
For flying within them
Were the very Winds of Love.

One day, Silent Song saw a Blind Boy in the street
And they fell in love.
He had no eyes to see, yet within his Ear
He still could hear
The Whispering Winds of Love.

Yet he could not see and she could not speak
So there was no way they could meet!

Suddenly a Fresh Breeze appeared on the Wings of Sound.
The Flute Player was around!
In a flash all became clear to the Silent Dove:
Simply that the Blind are only those
Who cannot Love!

Silent Song lifted her head to the sky
And out came the Loveliest Cry!

Bogota, 1st April 1998

My flute is my oldest friend and companion. It is the eyes through which I see myself and the world I live in…the manifestation of my heart, soul, body and aspirations. My flute taught me how to love.

I remember vividly, the moment I fell in love with the idea of a wind-instrument. I must have been 8 or 9 years old when my parents took me to an oboe recital at the American University of Beirut’s Alumni Club. I had never seen or heard an oboe before…a bearded man walked on stage, took a deep breath, his face puffed up and went blood-red - and the most glorious sound came out of his instrument. That was the precise moment I fell in love with the concept of invisible air coming into our lungs, only to come out again with a sound that was intensely moving…the miracle of something invisible becoming real and tangible, with the potential to change lives.

I have spent a life-time exploring, discovering and defining that love, connecting with the human landscape of our fractured planet, in all its beauty, potential and contradictions.

A very enjoyable conversation about life, love and flute with Nan Rich in the inaugural broadcast of I AM SOUND