Arlene Corwin writes

Pearls Before Swine. 

We’ve all experienced

A listener who

Is not concerned

With what you do.

Haven’t you?

I’ve sung my song

For folk who’ve sat

And folk who sit

Apparently attentive to it.

Between sets we have chatted about

This and that. It

Shows that they’ve not heard

A word,

Or listened to a single note.

They’ve learned to act mechanically - by rote,

Knowing exactly how to chew the fat.

And I sense the song of mine

Is throwing lots of pearls to swine.

Do I feel vexed or angry?

I know it is vanity

To bank on ears awake to me, and only me.

Folk may disagree, have differing capacity

To listen with a heart unstained,

Single-mindedness untainted.

Leaving ego-self at home,

Expectations on their own -

I sing for me and me alone,

And cling to song and growth and fun,

The only aim that’s worth the run.

There’ll always be pearl-eating swine

Not interested in ditty mine.

That’s utterly and fully fine -

My duty is to sing divinely.

[Although I wrote this with my own performances in mind, there was Andre Previn who, they say actually quit his job conducting the Pittsburgh Symphony because it was like throwing pearls before swine - people coughing, being there for the wrong reasons etc.  All experienced musicians and artists, I’m sure, have experienced the same!]