Karl Richter (1926 - 1981) was considered to be one of the greatest interpreters of this beautiful organ piece by Johann Sebastian Bach. Enjoy! 

Toccata and Fugue in D Minor

 

THE PRIEST

Check out those priestly hues: cardinal

red spotted with Irish stew, or flaked with parmesan

cheese, all depending on whether we’re in Dublin or Naples,

or dandruff on Jesuit black, or mullah white rising      

up in a desert wind, and a lovely Buddhist saffron    

plastered down and wet in a monsoon deluge. He could be on his way 

to hear the sins of his flock, or cast out demons     

in an Appalacian barn, or nod chanting over 

disembodied foreskins in Brooklyn. 

He might be barefoot(a literalist of the soulful arts),

wear boatshoes or Birkenstocks, Gucci

loafers possibly, or in Palastine plastic sandals,

or maybe the sort of embroidered slippers

stuck on the end of a saint’s bones. He might live

in Kyoto where he, in season, contemplates cherry trees,

or in Calcutta where he’s breathing in the fumes   

of a burning corpse, or blessing a suicide   

bomber in Beirut, or lunching on a plate of pasta

in the Vatican, and about to bring to the confession booth

a whiff of garlic and Frascati Classico, or he’s that man 

on his knees in Cleveland begging for forgiveness.

Biniaraix