teacher from the basement

“I don’t think he’s at rest yet”
they agree, saying he’s knocking

on the grave, rolling; Remember
you can only improvise if it is written

down and in bassoon shift;
Knuckles rapping more gently

(than his pen on the music stand)
on the wooden floor, beating joints and fingers

and the swollen notes cough out of us and
out of our accordions still.