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FR8

Currajah

DAVID KELLY

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Oboe Piece in E Flat

 

What madness made him write a piece

in E flat for oboe and orchestra?

Even the gentle oboe player

went home after the premiere,

sank into a late night movie

and worried about his penalty rates.

The audience have forgotten

the little bit of modern

crammed between Bach and Brahms.

Hearing it on the radio

I started this poem

and can't recall his name or his music.

 

Was it a madness that shook him

one raining cat-curled night

and made him feel so ... Pathetique

... so jealous of Bruckner's Eighth

he had to do something, there, then -

if only a five minute piece

in E flat for oboe and orchestra?

 

Or was it a madness of love and fear?

There was, perhaps, some common ecstasy

he'd sought for years but never known.

His private yearning could not bear

the glare of ruthless words,

had to be wrapped in music

and shown safely

in E flat for oboe and orchestra.

 

Whatever madness made him write

made nothing else matter.

Cloud fleece nigh in his mind

his oboe piece, though smaller,

beats anything by Mahler;

and more than any encore

his own ovation

in E flat for oboe and orchestra.

 

 

David Kelly is a Sydney poet.