The Piano Improvisation by Andy Oram

The Piano Improvisation by Andy Oram

 My plan was the sort of feverish notion that comes only in a dream

 
                 I thought I would listen to radio news
          and compress the punditry the pronouncements the battleground antagonists
                                into simple verse
And I would write the text onto a musical staff
                 where each line danced to melodies and chords
My son would then render my score
          in contrapuntal voices
                 like a jazz pianist or continuo player
Expertly embellishing my themes
                 like the jaunty tremolos with which he rips through Alborada del Gracioso
                                                                                    ♫
 
In a giddy moment I thought he would join with me
     I was happy to see him clasp enlightenment in the grip of his broad hands
     Enfold, in rapt pulses,
          the crowds responding in tears to his variations in gossamer and bronze
                                                                                    ♫
 
     But waking, I thought
 
                 No—
How misguided to hope of recasting a newscaster’s drone
                                                                                    ♫
 
          Then I grasped the real meaning of the dream—
 
To harbor trust in some undefiled glen within the mind
          where everyone would cease impulsive motion
          and pause to hear the billows that sweep all motions together
 
and contemplate the final vibrations of an unrancored music
                                                             nestled in a valley of bells 𝄐

 Andy Oram is a writer and editor in the computer field. His editorial projects have ranged from a legal guide covering intellectual property to a graphic novel about teenage hackers. Print publications where his writings have appeared include The Economist, The Journal of Information Technology & Politics, and Vanguardia Dossier. He has lived in the Boston, Massachusetts area for almost fifty years. His poems have been published in Ají, Conclave, Genre: Urban Arts, Heron Clan, J Journal, Main Street, Nine Cloud Journal, Poetry Leaves, Steam Ticket, Waymark Literary Magazine, and Wild Roof Journal.