Poem about Music

Because I am 80 and write poems about music, my friend, the poet and producer Randy Roark sent me this poem by Diane Di Prima who is also 80 and writes about music. Here she is:

Shirley Horn at Yoshi’s

How long can music
override the pain?

She reaches for the playlist.

Here I am:

Shostakovich’s Eighth String Quartet
is full of grief personal and collective
In the opening Largo we feel the langour of long-standing sorrow
made transparent by time
till it feels almost like a lullaby