Antique Pianos

Submitted by Madalyn Clare on Fri, 05/10/2019 - 20:45

Key drops
Ivory quivers
A never ending
Hammer gongs
At my vocal
Chords, leaving
Me defenseless
And wondering.

A gong
Again.

An eerie
Wavering of
Sorts,
A shrill and
Inescapable
Note of
Loneliness
But sweetness
Memories of
Laughter
And tears
Of beginners
And winners
And champions
And all that goes in
Between.

A musty
White key
Drops and
My stomach
Flies.
A music box
Feel that is
Tinny, metallic
Old and frail
But wise and
Soulful like
No other new
Instrument can
Recreate

A piano
Has feelings,
You know.
They come forward
With age, with
Neglect because
The piano listens
To all our pain
And joy
And accomplishment
And angst
But we let it say
Nothing for itself
Until we ignore it.

Author's age when written
17
Genre
Poetry
Notes

So I don't play piano (I've tried but I have no hand eye coordination :P), but one of my favorite sounds (don't ask me why) is an old, tinny antique/untuned piano. It seems like there's a history behind the sounds it makes, you know? I wrote this while listening to music on untuned/antique pianos.

Comments

Libby

Sun, 09/15/2019 - 04:39

Permalink

Oh my goodness, Maddie... I don't know what to say. I mean, I guess I do, though - it's so good, so beautiful! Wow. I love playing the piano, but you captured here what I've known but could never put into words:
A piano
has feelings
you know.
That line, the entire last part was my favorite part. It just sprung out off the page at me and entered my soul <3 Keep writing, Maddie. It's so beautiful.