Concert Pieces** Poem by Neil Young

i. Recitalist

He’ll challenge them this time, he hopes,
With Copeland, Williamson and Glass;
But Episode’s a putrid sound;
Those Sitwell Epitaphs confound.
Mad Rush, they’ll miss the point of this;
Flor Peeter’s Elegie, perhaps?


ii. Page Turner

Sat near the recitalist
He follows notes, counts bar lines
In busy passages; learns
To stop his thoughts from drifting
Between each page turn; dreading
Many cues that could be missed.


iii. Audience

They come, the old expectant crowd,
Dithering, undecided where
To sit, when to applaud; prefer
The music when it’s light or loud.
Through weighty movements, switching off,
They shuffle, rustle, mutter, cough.