Piano

As a volunteer at the men’s homeless shelter, known in Cleveland as 2100, I’d spent some time with the men there. I was in the cafeteria when a resident, whom I only vaguely knew, settled in at the sorrowful old excuse for a piano that was crammed into a corner of the room. He tested every key … some keys sagged … others were responsive to the touch but they made no sound. At length, satisfied, he started in. It was a complex piece, unknown to me … but gorgeous. He somehow worked around those busted keys … the room silent as he played.

Photo by Eva Bronzini