Introduction Poem by Ian Kellett

I found a fragile manuscript one day
Whilst tidying for posterity my chambers;
Leaf fallen from a cloth eared
Depository and gathered at my feet.
Once lifted for replacement its
Cracked and crumbling structure
Caught my eye; heaving staves,
Once catgut strung, were bowed
Loose by the wilted stems of heavy
Notes, whilst bass and treble clefs uncurled
Into abandoned rests and dynamics
Appeared to have been dismissed
In favour of less formal script.
I took pity on the smeared screen,
And in my current state of cleaning
Cotton picked each piece and laid
Them gently out to hydrate and
Revive; thereafter planting them
Carefully along a fresh trellis etched
Upon a crisp new parchment, where
Hopefully they were correctly noted,
With new bars to bind them firm,
And left to grow.