I hear a fine pianist
riffling up
and down the keys. 
I can’t see the piano
or the player,
but mom, gone for
a dozen years, steps off

of a C sharp.  I go
from room to room looking
for her. We don’t have
a piano. This must be
a dream, I tell myself. 
Whenever I say that,
it’s not a dream. 
Whenever I say this
is real, it usually isn’t. 
That’s the dream. 
The music

doesn’t stop…it fades
as does mom.  Is she
sending a message,
that she’s in a world
of music?  Or is she
looking for a way back
to Earth, stepping through
almost infinite notes,
Chopin leading her gently.

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Kenneth Pobo (he/his) has two new books out in 2025: At The Window, Silence (Fernwood Press) and It Gets Dark So Soon Now (Broken Tribe Press).