I Miss Singing

I remember my friend Mike, who's Vietnamese, OG Larry, who's an African, and I, who's Chinese, used to stand on the upper yard in San Quentin and sing acapella. We would sing different oldie songs and tried to harmonize them. OG Larry was the talented musician. He assigned the pitches for Mike and me. I would almost always sing tenor because I could sing falsetto. Mike would sing baritone or bass. OG Larry would get in wherever he could fit in.

Sometimes we would sing among hundreds of prisoners who would be congregating on the upper yard. We were in a zone. At times when we were able to hit our notes, we would be able to create sweet harmony and a crowd would gather around us. Those were good times. Other times Mike and I were off key, but we still enjoyed singing together.

I also sang in the Catholic choir and as a cantor for awhile. Somehow I enjoyed singing in front of people. Even though I wasn't all that, I always sang with feeling.

I look forward to singing with my friend again.