Bergotte appears
as a collection of epigraphs
for my letters

long exhalations
burst through at times of great truth
given immanence

Bergotte’s
musical outpouring–
infatuation

but of Bloch,
his recommendation
of Bergotte was true

my parents wished for
middle class morality
instead of Bloch

Bloch denies reality
and arrives muddy or wet–
is he insane?

grandfather banned Bloch–
“it’s not Jews as a race
just your friend Jews.”

finer poetry
means absolutely nothing
says Bloch, to my doubts

a dream’s woman
appears on a Gothic porch–
reading Bergotte

soldiers gone now–
tide of humanity leaves
servants watching