The Artist
I have been a lifelong musician and my musical passion continues to this day. I count myself as an aspiring jazz pianist who also enjoys playing casually for parties, restaurants, celebrations, fund-raisers and the like. Perhaps the best way to introduce my relationship to the piano is through this award-winning poem written by my wife, Carol Ann Wilburn.
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My Piano Man
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for Charles
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One August afternoon
I find you at the piano.
Something about that moment
speaks to the decades
of your playing. Maybe
it’s how the sun in alpine glow
slants over you,
ocean and islands distant.
Your face softens,
your head slightly down,
the notes revealing
something deep inside.
In your musical solitude
the piano sets you free
to go wherever it takes you
or maybe you take it
then back again.
The sound familiar
ever new.
By Carol Ann Wilburn
Winner, 2022 Carol Decanio Abeles
Emerging Poets Prize
