In their own time
- In their own time
they evaporated,the fast-decaying sounds of pianoforteand harpsichord, without sensory remainderunless you count bequeathed encryptions
—manuscript dog-eared in legacy—sixteenth-notes sketched and beamedwith ribbony strokes escaping the stafflike birds forsaking their wires, wings
soundless against a yellow sky but incitingtheir inheritors to detonatehardy new-crafted pianos, decipheringmeasure after measure, playing
as if Beethoven could hear them. [End Page 669]
casey fitzsimons has poems in Red Wheel-barrow, Mezzo Cammin, and numerous other journals. She has published twelve chap-books, including The Sharp Edges of Knowing and Against the Familiar Wall. Her reviews of Bay Area exhibitions frequently appeared in Artweek, and her studio drawing book, Serious Drawing, was published by Prentice Hall.
