Salieri's Secret

Salieri's secret

Rimsky-Korsakov wrote me an opera;
The jealous lesser musician
Puts paid to the marvellous Mozart;
Great story - treachery, tragedy,
An enjoyable score of disharmony.

History reads differently;
No evidence of malevolence.
I applauded his performances it's true
And wouldn't you? I love music,
Was I jealous of how she loved him?

The film was best, we all went mad;
Mad Amadeus, bad Salieri,
Both of us dangerous to know.
My word, it was sad at the end
Me round the bend and him dead.

I'm enjoying my posthumous infamy;
Can you tell where I am,
Am I speaking from heaven or spitting from hell?
Salieri's secret you won't know
'till you meet me below - or with Mozart.

(First published in Envoi 121)