Sue Rose
Rehearsals
I sat with you behind the upright,
turning pages as you played, watching you
mark time with one hand, caress my leg
with the other in all the silent bars
as the sight-reading band forged on.
In the café later, you cupped
the swell of the wine-glass in your palm
with a quip in slang my French wasn't up to;
your smoke unravelled slowly
and went to pieces in the air.
You were amused at having to fight me
in that lay-by near St Lazare; amused
at my surprised hands, twisting legs.
When you dropped me off, the bruised taste
of mint and tobacco took days to fade.
Still the lure of the first night remains:
the smell on my fingers of linseed and damp wood
when you opened the door at the beginning.
A clarinettist's lips are so supple, you murmured
as you drew down the practice room blinds.
Page(s) 28
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