The Quartet Crowd Scarce-breathing sphinxes, row on stonefaced row Glued to the plush as if some mesmerist Had stunned them, while onstage the four with fiddles Bob like weeds in the wind—how can they claim To love the sounds their bodies so resist? Fierce listeners are one of music's riddles. The casual, there for spouses or self-show, Uncrinkling...

Richard Zimdars, Editor "Opus 28, The Preludes" from Facing the Music by Bruce Berger, Conundrum Press, © 2014. Used by permission ofConnundrum Press, a division of Samizdat Publishing Group, LLC. http://conundrum-press.com. Any third party use of thismaterial, outside of this publication, is prohibited.