https://Voice.club - I knew this sidewalk very well, every crack and every crevice. As a street musician, I often stared down at this same spot, song after song. I have played music all my life and always enjoyed meeting new people, but these days I don’t want to look up too much because there are too many soulless faces passing by. In these dark times, I prefer to just play, move into my own world, and forget the dystopian world around me.
The trumpet can be quite loud, driving folks away quickly, so I never wanted to aim the bell directly at anyone. That is not polite, and in the South, we should always be polite. Since this restaurant invited me to perform for their outside guests, I always tried to keep the volume softer than the voices.
I remember that day when the patio was full, glasses clinking, a few sporadic laughs, but overall the mood was somber. An anxious voice at a nearby table asked, “Are you ready for World War Three and Armageddon?”
I thought about playing Taps, but then noticed my tip jar was empty, so instead I hit an old jazz number. The conversation continued about the state of the world, and as my melody caressed the sidewalk, I listened a bit closer.
They questioned the war in Europe and the sparking of new conflicts in the Middle East. “Would the USA join the fight and save the world again? Would this spark more conflict in Asia, and would China get involved?”
I took a quick sip of tea between songs and started to yawn, so tired of hearing the same old topics, paranoid discussions, and frantic questions. My mind was not in the music, but also not interested in politics, so I just drifted into thought and realized humanity has been in this cycle of war and madness for centuries.
I continually returned to the same perplexed conclusion - there must be a way out of the cycle of human suffering. I did not have the answer but recognized the connection of the physical world to the soul, through music, and I was sure this was part of the solution.