Poetry: At the Children’s Violin Concert

At the Chil­dren’s Vio­lin Concert
–Susan Cataldo
From drenched: Select­ed Poems of Susan Cataldo

           Firmly
bowed
strands of horse hair
           tightened
or
gath­ered up by
           a small
hand to play
           a piece by
J.S. Bach
who drank 36 cups of cof­fee every day.

    I like him because he was
    inspired by his belief in God
    & he played the organ in a church
    in Leipzig & he walked on
    cob­ble­stone streets to his home
    every evening where he fathered
    many chil­dren & wrote music
    for his wife to clean house by.
    He worked hard all his life
    & when he died, he left us
    all the lit­tle notes he made
    for him­self while he was alone.