Playing Bach in the DC Metro by David Lee Garrison

For a story, The Washington Post
had a concert violinist wearing jeans,
tennis shoes, and a baseball cap
stand near a trash can
at rush hour in the DC Metro
and play Bach on a Stradivarius.
Partita No. 2 in D Minor
sang to commuters in the station
why we must live.
 
A thousand people streamed by.
Seven of them paused
and thirty-two dollars floated
into the open violin case.
A café hostess who drifted
to the door whenever she was free
said Bach gave her peace,
and children waded into the music
as if it was water, listening
until rescued by parents
who had somewhere to go.