as soon as I sat down in my chair on the
patio it started to rain again
I had to wear a light vest and as I lit a late
afternoon cigar I listened to
what seemed to be a host of kettle drums
sitting on the metal roof that would fade
in and out
then it slowed down to the sound of big
drops running off the roof to the worn
grass below that looked like a giant sheet
on a player piano rolling down
now that reminded me of the Steinway
that sat in our living room and
my piano teacher who quit
sometimes kids can’t be forced to be who
their parents wanted to be or want them to be
this can set the stage for a life of failure upon
failure upon failure
to this day I can sing some say as sweetly as
Nancy Wilson but I can’t play a thing
or read music yet there has been a choir or
two here and there
and that nervous but fine solo on Danny Boy
but my folks spent a lifetime discouraging me
from doing anything that I wanted to do
so acting and singing among other things
simply faded away like most of my dreams
much like the rain falling off the roof to
the ground
