The Pianist Plays for the Melting Glacier
by Daniel Hudon
The white barge floats among the ice floes
He blows on his fingertips and listens to the water
Ice all around, ice knocks against the barge
He blows on his fingertips and begins to play
The glacier gathers at the edge of the bay, the rows of glacier bunch together
He drifts among the ice floes and looks around
A wave nudges the barge, polygons of ice float in the bay
He blows on his fingertips, plays a delicate theme
The glacier debouches into the bay, the glacier calves
He looks at the glacier, plays a delicate theme
as if to repair a crevasse in time, as if the wilderness of ice listened
His fingers melt into the keys, the sound drifts over the bay
Ice crashes into the water, a wave nudges the barge
He plays with his eyes closed, the air fragile
The ice pure, the landscape white, the barge an iceberg
Notes hang in the air, he plays with his eyes closed
The melody descends, he plays the bass notes softly
A seagull calls over the bay, the glacier calves into the bay,
He plays a delicate theme, listens to the ice
He plays with his eyes closed, plays the bass notes softly
