The Magic of Mantovani (for Simon Korner)

by MICHAEL HOFMANN

The invited audience applauds on cue--

steady couples in their late twenties,

well-dressed and supplied with contraceptives.

A giant in the world of light music, they say;

so much happiness in those globe-trotting tunes . . .

The surf of percussion. Swaying in treetops,

violins hold the high notes. Careful brass

for the darker moments--the blood of Spain.

The accordion is a European capital . . .

A sentimental music, porous with associations,

it played in the dimness before the ads,

when I went to the cinema with my father.

He disappeared into his own thoughts, abstracted,

rubbing his fingers together under his nose . . .

Scattered in the red plush of the cinema,

a handful of people were waiting for the feature.

Regular constellations of stars twinkled

on the ceiling while daylight wasted outside.

Ice-cream was no longer on sale in the foyer--

the end of kindness . . . I thought about mortality,

and cried for my father’s inevitable death.

From “K. S. in Lakeland” (The Ecco Press, distributed by W. W. Norton: $17.95; 110 pp.; 0-88001-197-1). Born in 1957 in Freiburg, Germany, Hofmann was brought to England at the age of 4 and educated there. Since 1983, he has lived in London, working as a freelance writer, reviewer and translator. 1990, Michael Hofmann. Reprinted by permission of The Ecco Press.