Have you ever had this horrid ordeal:
listening to a learning-musician feel …
his or her way through a new selection, ]
striving every H O U R to reach music-perfection?
Tonight, as dusk became a quiet eve,
the stillness was shattered. I began to grieve ….
the loss of my usually-precious ….solitude ….
as the neighbor banged keys ….with no interlude.
Piano keys that is. [At least it wasn't accordion! ]
Damn. It was like trying to loosen a knot, ‘Gordian'.
At work all day, a long drive home, my time to write.
But W H O could write on a ‘piano key-banging night'? !
In desperation I grabbed the Television remote;
I watched reruns of Bonanza, and Love Boat,
but I could only stand an hour of that.
I'd have taken a walk, but it was raining. Drat!
I tried thumping my apartment ceiling with a broom,
but my overhead neighbor was half-deaf and the piano did boom …..
with incorrect notes, half of which were out of tune.
The racket had better end! It had better end S O O N!
Another fifteen minutes elapsed; I grabbed my phone.
When I'd moved here I thought I'd live all alone ….
to browse PoemHunter and write a few rhymes.
I'd call the police; I'd done it before, ‘bout ten times.
B U T each time I called I got the same answer:
"Buddy, go out to a bar, and/or get a lap dancer.
We've got burglars, drunk drivers; you D O N ‘T want to know!
We wish we could help, but we're too busy, soooooo ….
try a Valium or two, or go for a walk. (Oh, it's raining.)
But we're too B U SY to bother, as I was just explaining."
With that, the "public servant" cut our connection.
If he'd been a politician i‘d vote against him, in next election.!
I was nearly at my wit's end, and my earplugs were missing.
Another quiet evening at home I found myself kissing …..
goodbye.
(August 17, 2015) dedicated on dec.25 my local police dept.
There is such a thing called an ear plug Meant to prevent you from going nuts And if you have lots of dough to spare Sony Headphones will remove despair
Complete sympathy. I live in a condo and my upstairs neighbour is beefy and walks on his heels. Even soft slippers isn't much of a help. They go south six months a year but his relatives who often use his condo have the same heavy tread. I may install a baffle but there are all sorts of problems and rules to pull this off.
Hope, Bri's stepdaughter has learned piano by now, or she has stopped playing it altogether. Or else we can expect another poem
Loved this great poem. Enjoyed the subtle humour and fantastic rhyme.We all know. Bri is a genius, when it comes to poetry. And I read his "poet's note too"
Music can drive one mad (I mean wrong notes) .New learners should be excused.
Kim Barney said it best, as shall be seen, in 2016, as he himself can attest.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
And as the keys so loudly banged You wished your neighbor would be hanged. Surely a jury would decide It was justifiable homicide.
Ha ha ha ha ha! Nobody can best this poetical comment!