Melancholy Music

The wild guy
at the end of the block
spent his life savings assembling
a massive pipe organ
into the fabric of his home.

It looked like crystalline steel
with stone around it like the inside
of a cave, and boy it played.
It rang out over miles of suburban
land and sometimes even
edges of the city.

Everyone turned on him,
and his melancholy music,
getting greater authority involved
each time he refused
to tone it down.

It ended when a riot cop
pulled him off the stool
by his long hair
and dragged him outside
driving him away.

That night the whole house
went up in flames and to this day
no one has said
but it was obvious to me.

When it was all but ash
the only structure not collapsed
was some warped metal
and the remainder of the stone.

Now we never talk about
that corner of the neighborhood
it just sits empty while the weeds grow
and the local crows all lurk there
looking over us.