Dear friends,  

 Tonight I was at a concert by the Kuss quartet in the Library of 
Congress. After a difficult modern piece they played "Rosamunde" by 
Schubert. It had been 9 pm when they started playing Schubert and while I 
was initially thinking of leaving, just out of respect I stayed (because I 
know how it feels when students leave early). But the music totally 
captured my heart. The following poem was inspired by that music. Hope you 
enjoy it. 

After the concert we gave them a very warm applause so enthusiastic that 
they had to come back and play again. I had never seen this happen before 
so when they sat down to play again there was a feeling of "Man, what have 
we wrought!" It was almost ten but they played a nice piece by Dvorak and 
once again made it worth staying.

Yours,
Sankar  

Rosamunde
11/13/08

She bends tenderly over the rose.
Feels the softness of the petals against her cheek.
The setting sun golden
On her long iridescent curls.

Her slender fingers run over the plant
Feeling the moisture on the leaves
The thorns pricking them 
Little spots of pain wake her up.

Her thoughts run to her beloved.
A tired smile crosses her lips
As she remembers the laughter,
the touch, the purity of the twilight air.

She walks gently through her garden
Every flower opens a page
Memories merge and mingle
like the colors on the western sky.

A single drop slips from her eye.
Disappears into the earth 
Then she smiles again.
An innocent sparrow chirps
looking for her mate.

Your tears are not in vain, Rosamunde.
Don't you see him in them?
Or in the softness of that petal,
The verdant leaf
Or the sharpness of the thorn?









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