Poem: The Piano
Books & Poetry
This week’s Poet’s Corner contribution is from Peter Roberts in Melbourne.
The Piano
It has always been in our homes. Mine, my parents,
my grandparents, maybe more. The syncopated keys
playing Pineapple Rag, a great favourite and the solace
of We’ll Meet Again, a tonic in the dark times. The ivory
has yellowed, the ebony dulled, yet its maple body is
sturdy and the brass candlesticks twinkle like her red
hair in the night. She hijacks my thoughts frequently,
yet I saw her only fleetingly, long ago in a foreign airport.
And my approach, near the baggage collect, was naïve
and awkward. Yet she will not be forgotten ‒ like some
sublime chord decaying in the half-light at eventide.
Perhaps we will meet again but I doubt it. I’ve no idea
why she reappears, as I reflect on our piano, that I can
touch but she can’t feel.
Peter Roberts lives in Melbourne. He enjoys poetry “that bounces and surprises, and that most of all is accessible”. He has been published in a range of national and international journals, most recently W-Poesis, Catchment and The Beatnik Cowboy, and is currently poet-in-residence at the Louis Joel Arts Centre in Hobson Bay, West Melbourne, where, among other things, he produces a monthly podcast titled Louis Joel Poetry Pod, released on each full Moon on Spotify.
Readers’ original and unpublished poems of up to 40 lines can be emailed, with postal address, to poetscorner@solsticemedia.com.au. Submissions should be in the body of the email, not as attachments. A poetry book will be awarded to each accepted contributor.
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