Skunks Like Beethoven
William Delaney
[mynameg@hotmail.com]
While I was wallowing in my own death
A nightly creature crept upon me.
Startled I was by this one,
but I was on a slight buzz.
For I was listening to Beethoven's great sixth symphony.
Entranced by the joyous serenity
and sudden bursts of noise,
That is when I realized I was not alone.
A humble mulatto fellow was passing through a neighboring yard,
and was about to cross the street.
Though he had not yet noticed me,
I had noticed him.
He advanced towards my step briskly,
but as in a trance,
and still had not yet noticed me.
Wary I was of this innocent fellow,
and I chose not to greet him,
but slowly walk away.
I watched as he sat beside my step,
listening intently to every note.
There he sat for a good five minutes,
obviously exasperated with so much beauty found in the jubilant but depressive
tones of the symphony.
His joy was stolen from him however unfairly,
by an atrocious looking beast screaming and making its way up the street,
spooking this humble fellow with its eyes of fire,
causing him to run.
Knowing not what the beast had done,
it continued on its path.
I though realized what had occurred,
and felt sad that the moment had ended too soon.
Although this was sorrowful, I also felt a strange joy
For he, unlike many of his other humble friends,
was able to experience such a thing, short as it may have been.
I can only hope the music still plays in his mind,
and one day he is allowed another chance to hear such beauty.
Poem © 2000 William Delaney, all rights reserved
appears here by permission
|
|
|
|
|