MY PIANO
represents my failings.
At age 9
I stopped lessons,
not wanting to practice.
At age 16
I was sorry,
but it was too late
for my fingers
to properly feel
a Bach fugue.
Later, when my father
had money,
he bought a Cadillac.
It mostly sat in the garage.
I bought a Steinway.
And now play
the Fugue in D Minor
lovingly, but not well.
When I look at
my piano
I see the years
of lost training
I can’t get back.
I expect my Father
also saw his Cadillac
as a loss.
It meant he had arrived
but had no place
to go.
11-15-13
At age 9
I stopped lessons,
not wanting to practice.
At age 16
I was sorry,
but it was too late
for my fingers
to properly feel
a Bach fugue.
Later, when my father
had money,
he bought a Cadillac.
It mostly sat in the garage.
I bought a Steinway.
And now play
the Fugue in D Minor
lovingly, but not well.
When I look at
my piano
I see the years
of lost training
I can’t get back.
I expect my Father
also saw his Cadillac
as a loss.
It meant he had arrived
but had no place
to go.
11-15-13