An Old Song Poem by William L Roberts

A girl sings an old song,
It echos a moment, then it's gone.

'Your life on earth, ' Death goes,
'What would you compare it to?
Don't hurry. I multitask,
Please think it through.'

'Maybe - an evening long ago
Visiting a friend in a midwestern college town,
We went to a recital,
What else was there to do, in rural Ohio?
At the front of the hall,
A young woman stood by some strings and a piano.
She wore a cream colored dress,
Her shoulders were bare.
If I had the words that Shakespeare used
And but a portion of his power,
I'd paint for you now
All I heard and felt that hour.
Her voice filled the space and beyond
With a sound - clear, full and round.
The accompaniment was effortless and easy
Like they'd never practiced nor rehearsed.
Together they made that old pattern,
A thing by Handel, itself far from home,
Breath with life and beauty.
In the moment of silence,
When they'd played to the end,
When it's last echo had dispersed,
I sat stricken with such sorrow and loss.'

'This other guy, at least he was terse!
He said geese landing in snow.
You'd think that having lived, you'd know.'

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The last references a poem by Su Shi (1037-1101) . If curious, search for geese snow su shi, and ignore the unhelpful suggestion.