The 243rd Chorus

from Northern Sketches by Gary Bunting

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lyrics

The 243rd Chorus

My love is in Mexico
Lounging by the pool
The water spooling around her daughter
As she swims lengths beneath the Aztec sun
And I’m here, many miles distant
The same sun, thin on my eyelids
There’s a faint piano tinkling in the background
A novice’s first steps
The bum notes, the fluffed chords
The misplaced fingers, the diminished fourths
Sound like I know what I’m talking about
But I don’t
For I am a failed piano player
My love played one of those street corner pianos once
A musical interlude at Niagara Falls
I can’t quite recall the title though

The piano playing stops abruptly
With a clang and a thud of frustration
I turn the station over on the television
Then turn again, then turn again
These late afternoons curl around themselves like a baby hedgehog
I want to do something but, y’know
I’ve walked too many miles today
I’ve trudged through the week
That Friday feeling doesn’t exist when Saturday comes
And sleep feel like your only option
But headaches throb and keep you awake
The lawn just won’t mow itself
You have to make time for things before Monday begins
But wait!
It’s a bank holiday
I can procrastinate the day away
Pick blackberries from the garden, have a muffin and a banana
Sleep a while, lounge around, drinking coffee and read poetry aloud
Stay up late, well, maybe midnight, actually, eleven’s more my style
When my eyes begin to flicker with sleep
And my mind drifts to the in between
Oh, the song! It was ‘We Beseech Thee’
It just came to me

credits

from Northern Sketches, released October 22, 2021

license

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Hello America Stereo Cassette

A new record label releasing audio recordings of writers' work. Poems backed by noise. Novels as audio books. Stories on cassettes. Curated by Adam Gnade. Currently accepting submissions.