Melodies of My Heart

I love music of all genres.
I like Boney M for their energy.
“Rivers of Babylon” is my favorite.

I like the country music of Johnny Cash,
Jim Reeves, Dolly Parton, and Hank Williams.
I love all the songs in The Sound of Music
and fell in love with Julie Andrews.

I like the Carpenters and their “Top of the World.”
I admire Stevie Wonder and “I Just Called to Say I Love You.”
Michael Jackson stunned me with “Billie Jean.”
I love “Temple of the King” by Rainbow.
Beyoncé thrilled me with “Crazy in Love”
and her thirty-five Grammy Awards.
I’m fond of Robert Palmer and his band
of beautiful ladies singing “Addicted to Love.”

I wanted to dance with Whitney Houston
and loved Bobby McFerrin and his “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.”
I love Bob Marley and “Buffalo Soldier.”
I love hearing “We Built This City” by Starship.
ABBA enchanted me with “If It Wasn’t for the Nights.”
Europe made me happy with “The Final Countdown.”
Taylor Swift charmed me with “Cruel Summer” and “Love Story.”
The list goes on and on—I can’t name them all.
I love all the singers of funk, jazz, rock, pop, reggae, and blues.

I love the Western classical music of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven,
Chopin, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Handel, and Vivaldi, to name a few.
I love Hindustani classical music and its exponents:
Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, Ustad Amir Khan, Kishori Amonkar,
Pandit Jasraj, and Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan.
I love the Carnatic music of Subbulakshmi, Balamuralikrishna,
Pattammal, Chembai, and Ariyakudi.
I like the Carnatic songs by composers
Tyagaraja, Muthuswami Dikshitar, and Shyama Shastri.

I also love Hindi movie songs by Lata Mangeshkar,
Mohammed Rafi, Kishore Kumar, Asha Bhosle, and Shreya Ghoshal.
I listen to Malayalam film songs by Yesudas, Jayachandran,
Sreekumar, Chitra, Sujatha, Janaki, and Susheela.

When the world grows heavy, or shadows fall,
I ask Alexa to summon these old friends.
They start their melodies, a choir of memories,
lifting the weight, clearing the mind,
until I am relaxed, healed, and whole again.