POETRY FRIDAY: It's National Piano Month!

Thanks to Renée at No Water River for hosting Poetry Friday today!

 

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Recently I learned that September is National Piano Month. Who knew?

Image courtesy of www.cartooncottage.com

 

The piano is one of my favorite musical instruments. I began taking piano lessons at age four and continued through high school. Now my boys both take lessons and practice daily on the same piano I learned to play on. Currently, I am working on a piece as part of a character study I am doing for a middle grade work-in-progress, so between my practicing and my boys’ daily sessions, piano music is often ringing through our house. It is wonderful!

When I discovered that we are in the middle of National Piano Month, naturally I had to see if I could dig up some piano poetry. I was thrilled to find the following poem by D.H. Lawrence, a beautiful piece that focuses on a favorite childhood memory of the narrator:

Piano

by D. H. Lawrence (1885-1930)

Softly, in the dusk, a woman is singing to me;
Taking me back down the vista of years, till I see
A child sitting under the piano, in the boom of the tingling strings
And pressing the small, poised feet of a mother who smiles as she sings.

In spite of myself, the insidious mastery of song
Betrays me back, till the heart of me weeps to belong
To the old Sunday evenings at home, with winter outside
And hymns in the cosy parlour, the tinkling piano our guide.

So now it is vain for the singer to burst into clamour
With the great black piano appassionato. The glamour
Of childish days is upon me, my manhood is cast
Down in the flood of remembrance, I weep like a child for the past.

And to balance out the serious with some fun, here is a fabulous poem by poet Ken Nesbitt called “My Puppy Plays Piano.” I can’t wait to share this one with my boys—our dog Gracie is always underfoot while they practice!

My Puppy Plays Piano

by Ken Nesbitt

My puppy plays piano.
It's the strangest thing to see.
It seems, while I was practicing,
he learned by watching me.
To read the rest of this poem, click here.

I hope you enjoyed these two wonderful—but very different—poems featuring pianos! Happy National Piano Month, and Happy Writing!