The Pianist’s Fingers--By Marianne Szlyk--United States

The Pianist’s Fingers

Thunder rumbles in the distance

on a cloudy day.

The music teacher tells his child

that God is warming up,

limbering His fingers,

playing His scales

before the concert,

a burst of chords,

irregular rhythm, melody

of rain and wind,

and the light show.

The child no longer fears

thunder

or lightning.

He settles down

inside to watch

the storm.

Marianne Szlyk is the editor of The Song Is... Recently, she published her second chapbook, I Dream of Empathy, with Flutter Press. Her first, Listening to Electric Cambodia, Looking Up at Trees of Heaven, was published by Kind of a Hurricane Press. Her poems have appeared in Long Exposure, Of/with, bird's thumb, Solar Nation, Quill and Parchment, Silver Birch Press' series, Jellyfish Whispers, Napalm and Novocaine, Poppy Road Review, and other online and print venues including Kind of a Hurricane Press' anthologies.