Measured Extravagance

2001-07-07 - 8:18 a.m.

["Interpretations" is a now-defunct collab.]

July Interpretations: The Music or the Misery.

"What came first -- the music or the misery? Did I listen to music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to music?"


"What came first -- the music or the misery?"

"Turkish March" on the accordion
at the foot of the Kings' Cross escalator:
I know I'm about to miss my train,
but when I reach the top, I turn back,
slipping into the down-toward queue,
the pound coins warming my palm.
One to praise the busker's merry fingers,
one to salute Amadean wit,
and one for the days I sat at my spinet,
stubby digits struggling to master it.

"Did I listen to music because I was miserable?"

Stronger than rope, more solid than prayer,
it seared - and also soothed - my lungs with the air
brewed out of its chords and contrapuntal blooms:
it softened the light in the hard, cold rooms.

"Or was I miserable because I listened to music?"

Vibrant plumes of sound
dazzling and reproaching me:
Oh, my wasted years. . .

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