the boy studies piano and magic
for Nico Soffiato
he studies both so that when he presses
a key, he can make everything disappear
whatever happened in school, anything
said to him on the playground, the bus
all the cares that have newly arrived on
his nine-year-old shoulders, unexplained
he puts one finger down, a tone rings out
the sound moves around the room like
an eraser, leaving nothing in its wake
but itself, pure and clear and honest
the boy closes his eyes, feels the music
seep in through his skin like a soft rain
the kind that gets down deep beneath
the plants, down to the rivers that run
where no one can see, like the stream
that is already forming inside the boy
then the note fades — abracadabra —
everything returns, but better
4 December 2013
Oak Street
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