Days of the Tel-Aviv Conservatory

Every now and then competitions took place.
All for enhancement’s sake and for the glory of improvement
and at the end there were also winners.
It was the first competition
in a big hall
and all the grandparents bit their fingernails.
I played Mozart
and won a commendation for ‘performing a jazz piece’.
That competition’s hero
became a basketball player.
The insult was smart. For many years it dribbled
in the court of my heart.