For Gabor

by Julie Gerrard

                     Gabor Andrasy, opera singer
                           1943-2004

Exits now the basso
who strode onstage to sing
jailer, giant, captain, the Grand Inquisitor –

the wide shoulders, firm walk,
sometimes a well-grown beard
always, just for a minute,
reminding me of someone else.

A private flash of bliss
before I surrendered to the onrush of opera
where love is everlasting
and after the final curtain
the dead file onstage to bow.

At the end, did the music play for him once more?
An overture only he could hear
as he waited confidently for his cue?

Julie Gerrard lives in Seattle, travels when she can, and writes poetry at home and on the road. She recently won 3rd place for her entry in the 2006 Pacific NW Writers' Association literary contest.