Fortissimo!
The sound of rough calluses against the ivory key.
The sound of Mallets beating against string.
The melody flows, a river so free.
A whisper of sound when I hear you sing.
My hands sting for my love towards you.
“Fortissimo!” you say, as I play like it is my last.
The sounds of our love, story of our past.
The sounds of playgrounds and music class.
Where I would gaze out the window to see your reflection in the glass.
And I would play, louder, and louder.
“Fortissimo!” you would say.
“Fortissimo!” you would say,
All the way back, in high school days,
Memories of ice cream, soccer, homework all day,
Living life with no beginning or end, we play.
Going home, back to the piano,
To slowly sweep the dust away.
“Fortissimo!” the sounds I play,
On the evening of our wedding day,
Your gown of white silk drapes across the floor,
And I finally found happiness, happiness once more.
You waltz across the house with such elegance and grace,
The keys of the piano bring a smile to your face,
And I finally found happiness once more.
“Fortissimo.” you utter, on the hospital bed,
With the electric keyboard that we kept in the shed.
I amble to my chair, and take a deep breath.
As I play the melody that grants you sweet death.
Oh, how I wish I could join you, but the piano chains me here.
Fortissimo.
Now I sit in the darkness of an empty room.
One only illuminated by the memories we share.
The tears that fall on ivory, are now everywhere.
My fingers move like robots, no rhythm or flow.
Stuck between levels of fast and slow.
Fortissimo. I scream. The world splits in two.
The only thing holding it together is a piano in the room,
I sit down again, my hands on the keys,
Smashing the sounds of mallets against string.
It’s coming, I feel it here, choking my neck, tightening my chest.
I can no longer breathe.
I fall.
Before I go, all I hear,
Fortissimo.
