I have an on-again off-again relationship with the piano. We’ve been together all my life, but the piano surely feels the ambivalence of my commitment. There have been stretches of time when I devote daily hours, giving the best I can give, trying to grow with the piano. We make beautiful music together. Then my interest fades. I drift off, pay no attention for weeks, or months. I walk past my sweet spinet every day, ignoring it, or even feeling a twinge of disdain. I close the cover over the keys. Our days are past, I think, sullenly. When I finally return, we are awkward together. Our intercourse is unnatural, full of fumbling and cringes. Often, an outside force finally reunites us.
I provided music for our church service today, at the Unitarian Universalist Society of Bangor. In preparation, I spent more time at the keyboard. Over the last few weeks, my affection has returned. The piano gives so much back to me – how is that I repeatedly forget how powerfully moving our time together can be? What other relationships get neglected in other lives? There must be many. Life is complicated. Day 5: 192 words = TOTAL 777; 58,638 remaining |
AuthorRobin Clifford Wood is a writer and writing teacher. She lives in central Maine with her husband and dogs, loves to be outdoors, and enjoys ever-expanding horizons through her grown children and their multi-species families. Archives
June 2022
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