In the quiet of the evening

Mowers stilled and toys away

Children scrubbed free from afternoon’s dusty games

Families settle on porches with fans in rhythmic motion

Only then is the music of the heart released

The arc of the notes

Lift and fall

Rise up and rest

Like an echo of the day’s busy-ness

Chords blend with human voice

Notes swell and spread like the colors of sunset

Smear and wash and paint the evening sky

With the colors of life

Of living

Of another day put to bed