In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

[20] Esopus Lighthouse Sand banks along the shore Hudson, wide and deceptively Shallow here— Flats of water hyacinths Half a dozen white swans Scattered in a romantic fashion Mosquitoes bite my ankle Later today we’ll listen To Bartok’s violin duos Written as student pieces— Mosquito Song and Sorrow. Esopus Lighthouse once lit the river Marking where depth turned to danger Less water is the problem here, not Too much water. The tower is red and round Might house Rapunzel Letting down her long hair Out of a slit window. Bartok’s other piece Is Fairy Tale. What about sorrow? What piece is missing From the jigsaw of swan and water? At the museum, the stolen Vermeers haunt me— Its gone, that perfect painting With its squares of light There’s silence in the music after all At the end as well as at the start. ...

Share