Music Lesson
How sil ly
(I
thought) when I read that line,
that every woman adores a fascist,
and how easy it was to underestimate you.
You're as smooth as a Nazi,
not any o ld train proudly running on time
but those special trains, well sealed,
ready for the cruelest run.
Politely you observe
cause, effect and death
hiding in that uniform known as
'problems of my own' -
a bottle-green quiet made for the SS
as they went on their rounds
picking off
IIllfcrII1CIlSrhclI.
And after the quiet they liked music,
Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert -
romantic ce lebrants those Nazis
at the end of a day's work.
You like music, very much, and art
all the ri ght interests
that (un like the lie)
never stopped anyone being a brute,
which makes me feel used, in away,
and sadly seduced -
liking Beethoven, Brahms and Schubert
as much as you.
The V;si!J/c
A·iall
by
HENRI COLE
was recently published by Alfred A. Knopf.
CAROLINE SANDERSON
lives in England.
