First Lesson

A memory

Outside the house

Is a statue of Mary

Unfamiliar to my young

Protestant eyes

 

Entering the door

I slide off my shoes

And wrinkle my nose

To the old lady smell

 

Furniture in clear sheets

Like Halloween ghosts

Haunting the living room

As I timidly creep in

 

My stomach tightens

The car drives away

Stranding me here

In this unfamiliar place

 

She emerges, a nice,

Gentle old woman

I'm shy and quiet

As she beckons to me

 

We sit and I wait

For her to unlock

The mystery of music

With these piano keys

Reviews

[Crimson Shadow]

I remember my first piano lessons and you captured that anxious curiousity, how haunted the old lady's house seemed and the mystery of music. She did unlock a new world with those keys and gave me the combination, I fumble with it, but can usually remember the sequence and go to that place even after all these years, best of all, when I practice hard enough I can even go to areas of this land I had never been to before....each effort rewarded with passage.

This is a fantastic poem. I loved it!

[PianoandPage]

i remember my first piano lesson too. this was great. i really love the last stanza clever and beautiful way to talk about music being unlocked.

i love the haunting of the living room as well.

[Adani Adoshi]

I think at some point in our lives, we as a young child have stumbled across this feeling, whether it be at a grandparents house, or some other elder. I enjoyed it because when you are young, you feel the nervous tension fill you when stumble across the new realm you come to know dearly. I found myself smiling as I read each line.

Cleverly done...