A protest song

It is something music does to us –
reaches into an inner world
a peculiar sound –
this –
the madness of sisters
daughters
breed cows
mares
feeding – getting fat – breeding
a cow has a
singular life indeed

It is the voice of
a geriatric diva*
this story of love
gone to gambling –
drink -excess belonging to
the proclivities of
privileged men

oh most dastardly
brother – the
Bride of Lammermoor
veiled in frippery
draped in blood
with a knife
she does protest

“Oh! qual funesto avvenimento!
Tutti ne ingombra cupo spavento!”**

It is the chorus who
speaks to us
most glorious music
wondrous song
announcing with chill
the madness of
every woman
who protests
glorious Scotland
can defeat her enemies
while she crumbles
within

Perhaps every word is a
protest
every syllable
every note
every brush stroke
every breath
perhaps to breathe
is to protest
against the injustice
of it all
and yet –
and yet
when the
ball and chain
are fixed to
your ankle
again
you can still hear
her singing

*When Joan Sutherland sang the role of Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor for the last time in 1988 she was in her 60s

**Oh what a tragedy!
A numb terror paralyzes us all!

October 2022