lessons with your piano teacher after you’ve broken up with your boyfriend
& who told you to play like that, to drop your left hand like a burden? come here. place your hands on mine. can you feel the keys & hear their wanting for touch? the way our fingers tease & tease, only giving away a bit of themselves each time. like silhouettes emerging into the light they were birthed from. a separation after every touch. listen: you must know that keys can close wounds & open doors. & who told you to drown in the darkness like a shadow? dry your tears. stop tuning your heart to his calls. instead, listen to this music & its sound. this song & its sorrow. this rhythm & your heart, filling up the space in this room. beating only for themselves.
Samantha Hsiung is a high school student from California. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Passengers Journal, The Rising Phoenix Review, Eunoia Review, and Cosmonauts Avenue, among others. Besides writing, she enjoys fencing, reading, playing the piano, watching anime, and listening to music.