Hi Fliss,
Gravestones with dates close together always give me pause.
Yes, I have a Ravel poem in the MS., which I may dig out and put here. IIRC, he wrote the piece for Wittgenstein's brother, a pianist who had lost an arm in WW I. I think it's splendid. Glad you like the song that makes the birds sing - i was a bit manic at the time.
I like your Debussy poem a good deal. I've heard tell that Ravel was a nice guy and Debussy, not, but I like both their works and I've not read their bios.
Here's the Ravel to join the Debussy:
Concerto for the Left Hand
Out of the silence rise the strings – a deep
Wagnerian call, which the winds echo, building
to where the piano says its piece. You might
expect as much – but when the piano comes,
it has a jagged edge: each note and chord
speaks through the left hand only. What we lack
marks every step we take with it. The right
hand will not speak, though speech is of the essence.
The orchestra repeats its call. Again
the left hand speaks, and there is sadness in
each single note plucked from the void.
The Lord,
says Valéry,
made this world out of nothing –
but nothingness shows through. What has become
of the beautiful right hand here? It will not
caress the waiting keys. Not one brief note,
for all the left hand’s calling, though that hand
moves with consummate skill through each warm digit.
They said
The Guard dies, but does not surrender,
and that’s exactly what the left hand does.
Almost forgot - here's a young orchestra performing it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJTUUKAdZDU