Love Poem: Practicing Piano
Thomas Martin Avatar
Written by: Thomas Martin

Practicing Piano

My brother, Kim, had great hands for playing the piano. With one hand he had a spread of more than octave. Almost every afternoon, I overheard him practice easy tunes at first, like ‘Carry me Back to Old Virginia’ or a simplified version of Beethoven's ‘Ode to Joy.’ 

As he progressed to more complicated pieces, I slowly became aware that although technically outstanding, he had no true feel for the music! He just practiced out of duty to our mother rather any real love.

sunlit window 
scales when he wanted
to be playing baseball


Published - Cattails - Winter - 2016