Uploaded October 2024 | Updated September 2026, 28 minutes ago
Life Is A Broken String
The world is full of broken strings
And often the more we work on something
The more we bend it into key
The more easily it breaks
We stretch the strings of our life
And we try to get them in tune
We twist the tuners
And we balance wavering harmonics
Attempting to make them unify
To sing on the same frequency
Some days we play a perfect chord
And our voice resonates
With the glow of salvation
We sing like the saved
Throughout the streets of the damned
And evoke curious smiles
Or angry and darkening eyes
But life moves fast
And in the 3rd dimension we are immersed and surrounded by chaos
Sometimes in fear we strum the guitar of life too hard
One string breaks and then another
The audience looks on curious about what you’re gonna do about it
The guitar goes all wonky and out of tune
You hit a distortion pedal
And bend another note too high
Pink ponk
Two more strings break
And now you are left with not much to create a tune
From there you might say F it
And break the last strings on purpose
To start with a clean slate
To realize we all blossom from imperfection
And the strings hanging off the fretboard
Are scattered like old dreams
We left behind
Flagrant reminders of resonance we can no longer achieve
Until we change the strings
We ask for the miracle of new pack
Six more chances to twist the chords of our life
Into some kind of tune
But even with digital tuners
In a digital world
The strings will always bend out of shape
The chord will never be perfect
And just when you think you got all figured out
Another string will break
And your song will slip into the cracks of the fretboard
You’ll have to improvise
Perhaps make something up on the spot
And if perfection is what you are after
You’ll be looking in the canyons of eternity
Or in the hole of an old battered acoustic guitar
Covered in the dust of travel
Past old ghosts singing yesterdays song
Shot by Amelie Chopinet
On a train from Pisa to Florence
For more writing and music and art. Josepharthur.com
Life Is A Broken String
The world is full of broken strings
And often the more we work on something
The more we bend it into key
The more easily it breaks
We stretch the strings of our life
And we try to get them in tune
We twist the tuners
And we balance wavering harmonics
Attempting to make them unify
To sing on the same frequency
Some days we play a perfect chord
And our voice resonates
With the glow of salvation
We sing like the saved
Throughout the streets of the damned
And evoke curious smiles
Or angry and darkening eyes
But life moves fast
And in the 3rd dimension we are immersed and surrounded by chaos
Sometimes in fear we strum the guitar of life too hard
One string breaks and then another
The audience looks on curious about what you’re gonna do about it
The guitar goes all wonky and out of tune
You hit a distortion pedal
And bend another note too high
Pink ponk
Two more strings break
And now you are left with not much to create a tune
From there you might say F it
And break the last strings on purpose
To start with a clean slate
To realize we all blossom from imperfection
And the strings hanging off the fretboard
Are scattered like old dreams
We left behind
Flagrant reminders of resonance we can no longer achieve
Until we change the strings
We ask for the miracle of new pack
Six more chances to twist the chords of our life
Into some kind of tune
But even with digital tuners
In a digital world
The strings will always bend out of shape
The chord will never be perfect
And just when you think you got all figured out
Another string will break
And your song will slip into the cracks of the fretboard
You’ll have to improvise
Perhaps make something up on the spot
And if perfection is what you are after
You’ll be looking in the canyons of eternity
Or in the hole of an old battered acoustic guitar
Covered in the dust of travel
Past old ghosts singing yesterdays song
Shot by Amelie Chopinet
On a train from Pisa to Florence
For more writing and music and art. Josepharthur.com
