Piano Exercise

Our host yesterday at writer's group had prepared our usual writing exercise. A ten minute stream of conscious from the stem: I know it seems silly but no matter how many times I move and no matter how far, I will not go without……… We each had a different direction after this stem. Try it out! Don't think about it, just write. With some edits, here is my take on this exercise. The last sentence, I've added tonight, as well as the title Piano Exercise.

Piano Exercise.

I know it seems silly but no matter how many times I move and no matter how far, I will not go without my piano. Or at least a reasonable facsimile of my piano. My childhood piano was not really mine, or even my family’s but belonged to a cousin. As a matter of fact it still is hers, and at the same time is still in my family’s possession. It lives in my youngest sister’s home and is a Heintzman baby grand piano. Many in my family took piano lessons on that beautiful instrument. My niece and nephew took their piano lessons on it. From the classical conservatory music that my older sister Janet played to jazz piano that my nephew Max played, this piano has been as much a member of our family history as anything else. So wherever I have moved to, a piano has come into my life. The cousin that is the owner of this piano is now in her late 80’s, lives here in B.C. and has never been able to get the piano to her home. She was 12 when it came into her possession. My present piano is a Palmer upright ~ baby grand I’m not certain, but it still keeps me in touch with family roots that are still cherished. I don’t play it often but when I do, the touch of my fingers to the notes takes me into my childhood living room and practicing piano. There is no principle to this wander down memory lane, but the principle of the power of touch to shape our memories.

“Music shouldn’t be just a tune, it should be touch.”

~ Amit Kalantri, Wealth of Words