Dirge

I hear the opening notes

And I'm lost in mortal reverie

I read the notes, delivered posts

That assign to me my destiny

*

Chords are struck, fortissimo

As dares, en masse, addressed to me

But I hear them in arpeggio

When the obituary's in calligraphy

*

The opening notes are a call to action

Tension rises with seducing glissando

A wagered push, demanding exaction

To sing falsely in counterblow

*

I veer away from the melody

And strike a chord discordant

A maverick fugue waxing severally

To a backbeat self-important

*

I mourn myself in retrograde

Undoing—before all is lost—unwrote

Some notes are meant to be unread

So you can rest in peace at the home note