Hymns and ballads, the pianist fumbles -
“The Battle Eve” and “Jesus shall reign….”
Fine Welsh voices, trained in the chapels,
Not much faith, but the songs remain.

A newer faith powered our singing,
The shabby room burst with the numbers:
“The Red Flag” flew, and then we urged
The starvelings to rise from their slumbers!

Grammar School made us upwardly mobile:
The simple songs of our youth in retreat,
The challenging glories of classical music
Swelled the souls of a proud elite.

Now a new century: everywhere music
Throbs in the air and causes a nuisance.
I need no tunes. I close the door,
And my soul is filled with the music of silence.