DRAFT The Brahms

n., mass

keen on sharing

(fewer hypotheses of behavior were entertained then)

At sixteen he assumed

universal appeal

brought the Francescatti to high school English

& the Fiery Greek Livieratos assented

sensing quiet spectacle instead

smiled only to herself

generally untraveled,

the Rolling Stones ears

knew nothing of New York premieres

much less Viennese boulevards & practice rooms

At sixty the illusion

fed by different

cries & moans unheard at sixteen

this time In Carnegie Hall

not the impresario

seat 19 nineteenth row

from Gil Shahan Stradivari Comtesse de Polignac

after holding his breath

through the cadenza

anonymity

& marveling at that

self-absorption

-- to be at once free of

yet deprived of futures

then thought possible --

glissandi

even at Carnegie his obsession

was solitary

heard at the same time

the full roar around him

marauding disinterest

of culture become cult

still he wept with joy

Brahms keeping it all

outside Fortress Carnegie Hall

just far enough away

18 October 2011