After modernism,
after bleary ambitions
of effortless grace
have sufficiently
subsided into dreams
of meager stipends,
after dinner,
a man sits at a piano.
A piano can, in narrative,
signify a private genius
or hidden depth,
associations
which complicate
depiction
of a literal pianist.
The title refers
not strictly to triads,
but to harmonic
resonances
in the piano’s
architecture,
effects that can be nearly
lost on every listener
but the one playing
though the piece’s length
and difficulty
ensure that very few
hear it that way.
I think sometimes,
he told a painter,
that you shut off
your phones
all the time
not because someone
will call but
because no one will.
of effortless grace
have sufficiently
subsided into dreams
of meager stipends,
after dinner,
a man sits at a piano.
A piano can, in narrative,
signify a private genius
or hidden depth,
associations
which complicate
depiction
of a literal pianist.
The title refers
not strictly to triads,
but to harmonic
resonances
in the piano’s
architecture,
effects that can be nearly
lost on every listener
but the one playing
though the piece’s length
and difficulty
ensure that very few
hear it that way.
I think sometimes,
he told a painter,
that you shut off
your phones
all the time
not because someone
will call but
because no one will.
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