Melody's Serenade

A Poem by Mistylake

We're a broken family,
Dad's an alcoholic,
Mum's a recluse,
I'm just useless me.

The world is so still and old,
My dad is drunk and tired,
I'm so insecure,
My mum sits alone by the fire.

Dad is violent and angry,
We believe the world is full of cruel words,
Yet we can't hear what we're saying
The world is swaying with the notes mum is playing.

I walk down into the study one night,
Look at the piano,
Must be at least two meters wide,
Is this the instrument that broke up our fight?

Mum is always so quiet,
I never want to ask her why,
We listened to her play her piano,
First time I've ever seen dad cry.

Dad used to play until he threw his life away,
I'm not talented enough to understand,
But mum believes we'll get up and we can,
Dad is learning he's been an awful man.

Dad's calm and so kind,
I have faith and confidence to find,
But the piano keys are growing so weak,
The music stops as mum falls to her knees.

Dad runs out to call for help,
I run over trying to steady myself,
I take mum to sit down,
She stares at me and says "Melody look at me now".

She says "Sweetheart I'm getting older",
I say "Just rest your head against me",
The piano keys are growing colder,
We sat in silence as she died on my shoulder.

Now the house is quiet,
The piano is packed away,
After mum passed dad lost the will to play,
We never had the chance to say thank you for what she'd done,
Now the piano is something we cannot dwell on.