Piano Lesson - Oct 14 2022

 

Piano Lessons

Oct 14 2022

Piano lessons

after school

in a house that smelled

of boiled cabbage

with a minor chord

of incontinent cat,

backed

by an occasional note

of mildew and mould.

The teacher's modest home,

which was just around the corner

but felt like a foreign land

to this shy sheltered pupil.

Under protest, of course,

because I had no talent

no interest

and even less dexterity,

not to mention

how tone-deaf I was

(still am).

And, of course

how I couldn't stand practising.

Oh, I sat there, all right,

in the dim basement

on the cracked linoleum

at the darkly varnished upright

we got 3rd hand;

cold fingers at rest,

day-dreaming

of anything but.

Now, looking back

I think she was just as much

putting in time,

exasperated by my incompetence

and lack of preparation.

And how even though I imagined her

as merely an instrument

for the purpose of torture,

and a spinster

well past her prime,

she must have been so much younger

that I am now,

had a life of her own

even someone to love.

But kids are solipsists,

and her personhood

never crossed my mind.

I still can't play a thing

or sing on key.

And feel badly

how much I resented

my parents' earnest aspiration

that I become more fully rounded.

Piano lessons;

what the respectable middle class did, back then.

And now, I envy people who play;

taking requests

tunes by ear

the life of the party.

Even better, guitar:

the cool guys

who got the girls

or at least caught their eye.

These days, no one wants a piano

or even has room.

So our old wobbly upright

is probably long gone,

rotting in some landfill

or cannibalized for parts.

Frankly, it was likely out of tune

the whole time anyway.

And a couple of keys were duds;

no note

just a dull wooden thump.

Like me, unmusical.

I can only hope

that my long-suffering piano teacher

(who's name I forget)

had some promising students

who made her happy

and did her proud.

After contending with me

the least that she deserved.

No reason to have written this except that the title “The Piano Lesson” caught my eye as I flipped by a play review I had no interest in (https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/09/26/the-burdens-of-history-in-the-piano-lesson), and thought it would be fun to riff on. Especially because I do occasionally think back to those miserable lessons, the tortured practice sessions, and the vague memory of a long-suffering piano teacher.