A Little Morning Music under Stalin

poem

Howard F. Stein

Intro

Shostakovich over breakfast
Is not such a good idea –
Not good for the appetite,
Not to mention swallowing…

Keywords:

Dante’s Inferno, digital generation, Dmitri Shostakovich, Joseph Stalin, poem, psychohistory, Russian identity, Soviet Union

Shostakovich over breakfast
Is not such a good idea –
Not good for the appetite,
Not to mention swallowing
And digestion. Shostakovich
Can be upsetting with his
Infectious tunes followed
By screeching dissonance
And loud hammering,
Eventually ending in crashing bombast
Or exhausted resignation.
His music is an astringent
For the soul, takes you
To places of sorrow and despair
Deeper than Dante’s final circle.
Not good at breakfast,
Or any meal, for that matter.
Come to think of it,
There is no good time
For this Russian. His is the land of
Loud knocks on the door
At three in the morning,
And disappearance to the vanishing point.

Page 472

Listen to Shostakovich only
When you have the stomach
For a world you could not make up.

Page 473

About the author

Howard F. Stein

Howard F. Stein, PhD, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine and University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, has contributed many poems and articles to the Journal of Psychohistory, Clio’s Psyche, and many other print and online literary journals/magazines over many years. He authored 32 books, including recently two of poetry, as well as The Psychodynamics of Toxic Organizations: Poetry, Stories, Analysis (2020), which he co-authored with Seth Allcorn. Dr. Stein may be contacted at .

How to cite this article

Stein, H. (2015). A little morning music under Stalin [Poem]. Clio’s Psyche, 21(4), 472-473.

https://doi.org/10.70763/943b5fd1ef60d3a4db537af4a4d0c802

PDF downloads

Download article PDF Download full issue PDF