To uncle Helder, who before dying 

paid to fix a piano he didn’t know

bears the same name as his daughter.

​

piano is always masculine

in the Portuguese language

the one in the sitting room

is feminine

in her graces touches and endings

even her name

is female

Cecilia

 

race of saints poets the blind

the piano neither prays recites sees

but sings

since she shares her name

with melodies

she is not male

Cecilia

 

the therapy for time

and termites eating

from the outside in

is silent

like the stones

of a cloister

the vows of Carmelites

who barefoot

tread the ground

where Catholics

lie

a lap where she can

rest

grief-stricken

Cecilia

 

the sound

of an upright piano

rebounds off the walls

souls reverberating

without bodies

unseen by

Cecilia

 

sawdust in the eyes

mute vestige of termites

and tears

sweep the floor

while occasionally

weeping heartfelt cries

lies

Cecilia

 

the closed lid

sheltering

the keyboard

from dust

deaf rusty bass

strings

a silent piano

Cecilia

 

in the sitting room

prostrated eyes

of a pianist

witnessing the silence

that is not his

but hers

Cecilia’s