A Question

"Your life on earth," Death asked,
"What would you compare it to?
Don't hurry. I can multitask,
Please think it through."

"Maybe - an evening long ago
Visiting a friend in a midwestern college town,
We went to a recital,
What else was there to do, in rural Ohio?
A young woman stood at the front of the hall,
By some strings and a piano.
She wore a cream colored dress,
Her shoulders were bare.
If I had the words that Shakespeare used
And but a portion of his power,
I'd paint for you now
All I heard and felt that hour.
Her voice filled the space and beyond
With a sound - clear, full and round.
The accompaniment was effortless and easy
Like they'd never practiced nor rehearsed.
Together they made that old pattern,
A thing by Handel, itself far from home,
Breath with life and beauty.
In the moment of silence,
When they'd played to the end,
I sat stricken with sadness and loss."

"This other guy, at least he was terse,
He said geese landing in snow.
You'd think that having lived, you'd know."

-------

The last references a poem by Su Shi (1037-1101).
If curious, search for geese snow su shi,
and ignore the unhelpful suggestion.