So you want to quit your piano lesson

So you want to quit your piano lesson

You are staring out at the window while you talk

Creasing the edge of a Bach Prelude with your fingers

You tell me life is getting in your way

How busy you get and how little time you have

You sound like a reed swaying in the wind

Maybe you wanted me to help change your mind

But I only said, “I will miss you.”

Who was I to truly gauge the depth of your sadness?

Oh how I was thrilled listening to you

Your hands finding new contours, fresh hues in the piece

Birds, cars, foghorns from the sea all stopped making noise

To you the keys weren’t black and white, but amber, jade and violet

Each piece of music was a fresh canvas, an open playground

Your arms bounced like a dancer on a trapeze

I tried not to be a conformist

I thought I understood the swan in you

Under your haughty gaze, you were fragile

Underneath the still surface, you struggled

You refused to fly off on a moment’s notice

You knew you would fall down too soon

Your heart yearned for the sublime

But your wings were still tied to the ground

Maybe logic seemed stiff, cold and ugly to you

But try putting a feather inside a box

It won’t fly away from your hand

So you want to quit your piano lesson

Here is my last message to you

Love the piano the way you love someone deeply

Give it the freedom and shelter it deserves

Someday

You may visit me and tell me

That you really haven’t quit at all

Blog 4

Chie