Shostakovitch

 Shostakovitch sat at the family table about to eat

A bowl of his mother’s homemade borsht
He had not yet reached puberty
But he had many manly characteristics
A knock on the door
Always chilling for this family
Of at most lukewarm Communists
This time it was a neighbor
But it wouldn’t always be that way
Later in life, Dmitri would knock on their door
With the drum beats that
Open his Fifth Symphony
Drum beats that are fear, heartbeats and defiance