(Scene by the brook)*                                

He came seeking solace to Heiligenstadt
    and walked alone by its crystal stream
        welcomed by songs the nightingale taught.

Its cheerful waters made Vienna seem
    a distant, cool and forbidding stage
        where few would embrace a pastoral dream.

He dotted his sketchbooks on every page
    with earthen tones born of peasant heart -
        (though fare rich enough for any age) .                

He poured from the stream the fiddle part,
    and woodwinds sang with the birds in the dell -
        all "choired" together by his masterful art.

At Heiligenstadt Beethoven attended well
    and bequeathed us his golden 'Pastorale.'

*July, 2006

The keys moved deliberately,
Signing its goodbye in a final
Soaring chord.
Pulling the heartstrings that
Resonated deep inside,
Shivering at the slightest touch.
It closes its eyes and gives a last sigh,
Reminiscing of when Beethoven and Mozart
Brought it to life, giving it meaning to sing.
The stars trembled as each broken note
Joined the skies.  
The pedal pumps furiously, gasping
For air, a voice, a last
Word to the world.
The universe listens to the last struggling
Breaths, the dry sobs that put the
Melancholy rhythm of rain,
To the dying heart of an old creature that has lived
Too long.
Silence.

Somewhere,
every evening,
someone is playing Beethoven.

Who, today,
will deliver solace,
two centuries hence?

It sits, poisonous
Dripping sorrow over the windowsill
I drove to the Skyway,
Dropped a heart over the edge.
Watched it splash under
It took a couple seconds to hit.

This apartment, I can't find any matches.
Beethoven's wife,
It's legend that she would play a scale,
All except the last note- and Beethoven-
awake asleep in between dreams
not waking to her kisses would
get up to finish it.
She probably knew everything about him.
I bet she wept when he went deaf.
I like to think he wrote her a sonata, or two.

It's raining outside.
Right behind the poison on my windowsill.
A candle would make this place better

Where are the matches?
Beethoven's wife would never have betrayed him.
Do re mi fa so la ti-