Afternoon is best. He's bushed
from first grade math and school bus chatter.
When the cartoon adventure ends,
he wraps socked ankles around
spindles of a piano bench. He starts
slumped over the keys, plunking
notes he can’t name, despite days of
flashcards with mom. He plays the white keys,
skipping the stuck middle C,
mixing the chords of church psalms with
the daring of lightsaber duels. It's a bass line
gently swirling with quick-stepping treble.
He plays the song to save his dad, brave tones
breaking through my troubles, redeeming the bad,
and bringing me to the bench beside him.


© by Matthew Miller.
Used with the author’s permission.