The homeless piano

sits by the curb

the sign on it says FREE

 

but no one takes

the offer up

and so the piano

sits and sits

 

until finally

the bulk truck

comes along and hauls it off

like so much trash

 

the thought of the piano

being hauled away to the landfill

seems so insulting

a thing of beauty

reduced to only wood and wire

eventually rubble

 

no more music

no more sweet sounds

no one ever again

will sing to its song

or hear its lilting melodies

 

all that is left is

a patch of yellow grass

where the piano sat by the curb

 

the truck pulls away

but as it turns the corner

we hear a tinkle of keys

from deep inside the truck

 

one last song

from the homeless piano

in the key of sadness.

tailing off into the distance.