Paris, Panting

A curious debut, & one of infinite interest, is that of
Mr. Bridge-Tower, young Negro from the Colonies . . .
—Le Mercure de France, 1789

At nine years, the youth astonishes
for his maturity of playing.
We at Le Mercure celebrate his arrival
to the Parisian concert stage.

They say leap-year babies
are out-of-time, moony. I’m really
just two, closer to the womb
than this world.

He was presented by his father, the Moor
Friedrich Augustus, to whom much praise is due.

Praise me. I am small. This hall looms
nearly as large and dark as he.