Partita

The narrator is haunted by the unresolved death of her brother, Cyrus, who was struck and killed by a train years ago. She contrasts the predictable, reassuring structure of Bach’s music—“Eight measures of statement, eight measures of response” (1)—with the agonizing lack of an answer to how Cyrus died. The narrator rejects the common explanation that he was drunk or high and fell accidentally, questioning how anyone could suppress the powerful animal instinct for survival. The narrator, who was 11 at the time, reflects on the tendency of girls that age to blame themselves for every bad thing that happens.

In the present day, the narrator receives a phone call from a man named Sigurd after more than 20 years of silence. His voice is instantly familiar, and the idea of seeing him again fills her with a sense of impending disaster. He asks her to make a decision and says he will call back in seven days. She conceals her distress from her husband, Charlie, a good and trusting farmer who would believe any excuse she gave. She reflects that she was only 20 when she knew Sigurd. Unable to sleep, she plays Chopin on the piano.