on piano keys
because we never closed the piano
because we thought we’d always be back
because it’d always be there

years after we left it behind
the scavengers came and took everything
we thought we could leave
safe
at home
and i’m sure
they would’ve taken the piano
if they could

i quit piano when i was in the fifth grade
just when i started to learn fur elise
and i remember registering the defeat on my parents’ faces,
thinking i have won

the piano is still there
in a shell of my childhood
emblematic of mother knows best,
but she is also human
the scar of some growing pains

the piano
growing untuned
piano keys
untouched
unplayed
like all of my old toys
collecting
dust