22 NOVEMBER 1963, Page 23

Speaking of Love

People talk ceaselessly of love, Looking for reasons, looking for proof.

Analysing, dissecting, slicing it thin, Nailing it with words, curing it like bacon.

But, if music's the creature's food, play on.

Choosing, let's say, a tune Where change is constant, and invention Counts. You sing with trumpets in your throat, Peeling each note Like an apple, so that the skin Spirals off unpredictably, unbroken.

No one gets fat on apples, but the peel (According to the way it falls) can spell A fortune. Even for sceptics the charm will work.

Select the theme, then. Sing me luck.

PHILIP OAK ES