Gyorgy Solti (1912-1997) (Hmv 2) Poem by johannes lewinsky

If not you - who
If not now- when

He died in his sleep
Unawares unkempt

It didn't matter that
For sixty years he had
Manipulated compelled
Thousands upon thousands
Of crotchets quavers
And lesser wills

That he had
With gestures violent
Eloquent
Ruled

As though he knew
Eternity
Could never be supplanted

The peacock screamed
And Gyorgy shrieked

He must have guessed
And he would
Live to be
Spirited away
Retrieved

(as by a thief returning
for the ultimate trinket)

where he is now
no bars, triplicities, quaternities

no air to breathe

no sun
no time
no applause

only the slow
returning of effect and cause

an eternity of silence