A poem written by a patient in Brandon about guitarist Matt and fiddler Maria – to thank them for what their music did.
From Me to You
I hope you know
The emptiness consumes you
Being hollow makes you cry
A dismal wall surrounds you
You only want to die
The words don’t make you whole again
the drug can’t make you heal
Each day is just a barren haze
You’re never sure you’ll heal
Life has nothing left to give
No reason you can find
To live in this darkened world
When sorrow fills your mind
But then they come to visit
with a simple mission planned
They’re bringing music to us all
From their swift and gifted hands
You don’t think it will be helpful
You barely want to go
You think maybe you could stand it
If the music’s sad and slow
You listen to them tuning
Your mind inclined to drift
Their hand at last are ready
And they share with you their gift
By sound your breath is stolen
The music drives you back
This is not what you expected
Your mind goes sharply off its track
You feel as though you’ve learned a truth
That joy is really SOUND
Happiness sails from every string
And your heart begins to pound
You’d forgotten how to feel this light
Perhaps you never knew
Their playing gives you more than wings
You can’t believe it’s true
Excitement builds with every note
Hope blossoms like a flower
How can this be? You live again!
The music hands you power.
You want to weep, you want to laugh
To dance about and sing
To shout aloud how stunned you are
And let your freedom ring
Your whole being’s feeling grateful
You’ve been released from sorrow’s trap
You need to thank your saviours
But how? You only clap.
I’ll find a way to let you know
To be sure you realize
Exactly what it meant for me
See your gift through grateful eyes.
Before you I’d forgotten
That I could feel like that
Be proud of what you give to us.
Thank you, Maria and Matt.