From a friend in Ottawa Piano Group: Poco a Poco ~ Betsy Sholl Yellow practice books with their stammer names, Buxtehude, Beethoven. And clumped notes, dense thickets, weeds stuck to a fence, fingers or vines – burr-tangle of stop-start, try harder, hack through, and always at the same place: blocked, as if somebody at a gate or just the gate said, “No. Not you.” Some stupid password: boy, blanket, battery, Bach. Stupid keys stupid fingers bang till the strings tremble, then toss the book. But the notes don't shake loose. Notes or birds, flashing past, out of reach, calling “So long, sucker.” Sucker with stuck mouth, stuck piano. Or girl making a splintery ruin. So much racket there's a stillness after. A bird calls. Not pretty, but it gets an answer. So, there's try again – like tiptoe then, finger by key, ear bent close, careful not to disturb, like words whisper-sung, slow, one at a time before a phrase comes, notes before music, one hand before two, till – poco a poc
The varied musings of a music maniac...