Hoffman’s had a hard
time of it:
brings krok-
a-dillion tears
to all his listeners.
Why not?
We empathize.
We feel the call of un-girded loins,
and wish for ourselves
a pedillion of mistresses.
All this
has a musical theme,
even political implications.
But one’s job’s a job;
and though rarely Bach, more Offenbach,
each man is subject to the Peter Principle.
Still better a sad
reverberation,
a slosh of beer to hide that failed
or faulty assignation,
than never to have striven
for the ring
whenever a chance was given.