(this from last prompt, alas...)
I’m reeling it in, A Virginia Reel across the strings
Plucking the lower keys with my big toe,
Lay my toes
across the mahogany,
my mahogany southern body
my key, my white teeth clacking middle C
This is where I’ve ended up
Finally,
blood flowing through ivory
Sorry, sorry,
dear elephant who never lived on my street
but dies in the living room each time a third grader
huffs her way through Chopsticks.
Bow your head to the pachyderm tapped in every note
Bow your back to the staccato plea of each key
And each tiny bum on the leatherette bench
One key per breath,
finding the space between the notes,
that gap-toothed smile
between atoms
Love it.
ReplyDelete"Blood flowing through ivory"
and the image of the hopeful, belabored playing of kids learning music only partly of their own volition.