The Girl and Her Piano

This poem is a Sestina; where six same words are repeated in each verse.

The Girl and Her Piano
There is a photograph from long ago upon the shelf
Of a child, a girl sitting;
Her hand stretched out lifting the top
Of a piano open. With a spark
Of curiosity painted on her face, presses down on a key.
The note, startling her, ringing like bells

Through out the room. Echoing bells
Surround her. This is the only photograph on the shelf
Where nothing else lies; except for an old house key.
The girl is about eight or nine years old; sitting
On the bench, swinging her feet underneath. Image sparkling
Her as light as day. Her fingers brushing atop

Of the keys of the old piano, gracefully moving like waves atop
Of sand on a beach. Her name is Bells
Or so it is written on the back in sparked
Loops of cursive. A cat is shelved
On the piano; watching as she plays sitting
Like a stone in the mud eyeing her fingers through a keyhole;

Spying. On a thin piece of string hangs a key
Around her neck; where secrets can be open and the top
Of the world can be seen. It is hidden beneath cloth, sitting
On the beat of her heart, rising with her every breath. Bells
Surround Bells as the piano bleeds music onto the shelf
Making the old photograph come alive. Sparking

With light she plays, vibrating the floor. A spark
In the distance, does not stop her. The key
Hanging from her neck, sobs against the shelf
Of her skin. The other old house key sitting atop
Dances along with the photograph as bells
Of music ring. The cat now sitting

On all fours, back of hairs raised in alert as the girl sitting
At the piano still plays; the tips of her fingers sparked
With the magic of music. The bells
Die down as the song comes to an end. The key
Stops dancing coming to a stand still atop
Of the heart. Upon the shelf

The photograph still sits, where the top
Of a piano is open exposing its keys, waiting to be sparked
With play. Bells’s hand hangs in mid air, in the photograph upon the shelf.