Provokiev first
Raised the balloon of an opera
At the giddy age of nine. All along the wires of Revolution
Orchestras flew
Bum-titty, bum-titty boom,
Without conductors.
Factories attuned to
The contrapuntal downbeat
Of the working classes. Stalin collared music
Leaving only the modal scale of mute.
Now the aeroplane pitapats
The sustained note of progress. Inclined to England
Ivan and Jean-Claude
Know the harmony of machines.
