the punishment
for a lark
we’d sing the
wrong words
to the songs
they had us
sing, until
that teacher
bid me write
since i liked
to fool around
and mock at
what was given,
a set of words
to one and
chirp it for her
at the piano,
that lark now
fled the skies,
and i struggled
on in ink, the
lined page an
ocean to sink
upon…
i pulled that
song apart and
frisked the words
for something
i could claim
my own, a feeling
no-one saw, the
angle a high-flying
bird might see,
put something on
the page, a story
like the story told,
but dropped from
that high view,
presented it
that lunchtime
to her in her
room, when she
asked if i were
to sing it too,
not remembering
her sentence,
i lied and said
new words were
all the task she
put to me,
and dismissed
i ran straightway
out that hangman’s
door to play
8 march 2020
bucklands beach
Copyright © 2021 Peter Le Baige. All Rights Reserved
The music is from No. 2. Elevation from 6 Romances sans paroles, Op. 76 by French pianist and composer Cécile Chaminade; this is a remastered recording from the original made by her in the early 20th century (her existent recordings were made in 1901, and 1920 – 1927:
Your readings, Peter, are always sublime.
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Many thanks, James. Most of the time the reading is done with little time to do it, and often it’s the first successful reading of the piece that I post; the others have probably had problems with the choice of music, or I have flubbed the reading. I record the music and the poem at the same time and hope for some artistic ‘miracle’ to sort it all out. In a more perfect world, I would record and re-record and on and on until the unmatched ‘final cut’, perhaps getting it a little smoother, but probably less genuine as well.
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has left me with my own amazements at the slow but sudden passings of time
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For me that was 50 something years expended just to get to the point of a written-down remembrance of it.
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