Performance

.Two shades of wood
a dark-colored bar                         
           light from a window
a student playing piano          

Ahgreyeuss sips and visits                                                             
with Rakhehla                         
She says the professor will let him play          later

The class meets in this bar
amid light notes
               and dark harmony

The student player gets up and returns to a seat

Ahgreyeuss goes to the piano                                                       
He moves the piano                                                                       
He adjusts the bench                                                                   
nervous                                     
He plays                                                                                   
He agitates the keys                                                
                          existentially

Darkness comes into the bar

                Ahgreyeuss sits playing black notes
                     but when he plays the white notes
they darken
maroon                grey             black

The piano sounds papery
Titles lie on the keys                                    
In wild rhythms
he shelves                                                             
and shelves
                                                 the volumes in the library

It’s closing time                                               
                                The patrons leave quietly                no remarks
But Rakhehla says                                                                       
... “I like your rhythm and cadence
but I’m not sure about your songs”

Ahgreyeuss Pahn          worries about the books                     

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