sudden the flip side of fame

[perdix]

my consolation prize for staying up so late is that I get to read the writer's almanac as soon as it arrives in my mailbox. today's is noteworthy for two reasons:

s.f.

by david lehman

s.f. stood for sigmund freud, or serious folly,
for science fiction in san francisco, or fear
in the south of france. the system failed.
the siblings fought. so far, such fury,
as if a funereal sequence of sharps and flats
set free a flamboyant signature, sinful, fanatic,
the fire sermon of a secular fundamentalist,
a singular fellow's symphonie fantastique.

students forget the state's favorite son's face.
sorry, friends, for the screws of fate.
stage fright seduces the faithful for the subway fare
as slobs fake sobs, suckers flee, salesmen fade.
sad the fops. sudden the flip side of fame.
so find the segue. finish the speculative frame.

and apparently it is erik satie's birthday, which is nice to know, because I think erik satie is very nice to listen to. at least I like what I've heard, which is mainly the gymnopédies.

and by the way, I simply cannot imagine why garrison keillor did not avail himself of the opportunity to say the word gymnopédie on the radio. I would have.