“Luciano Pavarotti” by Connie Post, published in The Poeming Pigeon: Poems about Music, released November 12, 2016 by The Poetry Box.
Luciano Pavarotti
(1935–2007 ~ San Francisco Chronicle)
In the last moments –
did all the crumbs of lost notes
fall beneath the table
Did every aria run through his veins
until his breath was like
an ovation
extended, longed for
When his eyes were closed
did his music flow like
cream on the underside
of his marrow
Did he stand in front of thousands
again
holding his hands high
the applause flowering
at his feet
or, as the lights faded
like an old lantern
did he remember
that he was the son of a baker
go back to the days
when they sang together
in a modest church
Did he remember
as he departed
that bread was rising
and falling
being broken and
and passed
countless loaves
leavening
steam
all over the windows
Susan Tepper says
Magnificent poem.
Amy Baskin says
Taking Pavarotti back to his bread and all that once nurtured both body and soul. The warmth and calm comfort that come with the knowledge that bread is still leavening somewhere.