Dead Men's Music

by
Kate McCormick

The dead repose
Close neighbours in the graveyard.
Each honoured by his monument.
Tchaikovsky’s angels of the night.
Borodin with staves of golden notes.
Mussorgsky in a coat of darkest pitch.
And Rimsky Korsakov with cross of Celt.
They seem to sleep serene; and yet, they stir.

Beauty sleeps
Twenty years awaiting her brave prince.
Sugar Plum fights King of Rats
To save Nutcracker’s life.
White feathered swan and black
Dispute the love the Queen’s son gives them both.
And through it all, the sounds of battle rage;
The bells of Moscow peal Napoleon’s fall.

Framed notes
Tell stories of the walls of old Kiev,
Where hen and gnome march to Golden Gates.
Tents spread across the Steppes
And gypsies dance entwined.
Two lovers die in Sultan’s court.
Composers who, with music, stir us,
Do we truly think of them as dead?

© Kate McCormick 2009

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A published writer of scientific books and editor of a technical journal, Kate has come to creative writing recently (writing as Elizabeth Ducie) and is experimenting with short stories, life writing and poetry before taking the plunge on a novel, set in Russia and based on her travel experiences.
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