Reunion
six yards of thick velvet draped
over the ebony body
of the piano I longed for
since the day I sat
at my tutor’s instrument
three year old feet
dangling disproportionately
my father’s birthday present to me
saved towards for over a decade
with blood
and punishing toil
I merge into frenzied crowds at the border
fleeing the spectre
of impending war
numb in the realisation
that I will never kindle music
from keys again
the reality of my life falling away
undone before my eyes.
eighteen alien months in exile
on a plane over the Zagros
I watch through the porthole
wisps lining the periwinkle of dawn
decay into oil laced toxicity
as daylight chars in billowing smoke
arriving to see a blackened land
scene of unspeakable crimes
torn and tilled by artillery
bleeding oil from ruptured pores
in a junkyard
of mangled tanks and trucks.
but miracles happen
even in this cesspool of ruin –
where I expect to see
the rubble of my life
served up in shreds like a mockery
my home still stands
pieces of my life intact
survivor of waves of looting mobs
nights of carpet bombing.
in the living room the piano sits
unharmed as on the day I left
velvet covers still draping the wood
an impenetrable armour
shielding from the onslaught
of vaporised oil
the ebony beneath unscathed
strings pristine
dormant keys now purling like bells
as my fingers curl on the ivory.
• • •
Oormila Vijayakrishnan Prahlad is an Australian artist, poet, and pianist of Indian heritage. She holds a Masters in English and is a member of Sydney’s North Shore Poetry Project, and Authora Australis. She was awarded an honorable mention in The Glass House Poetry Awards 2020. Her recent works have been published internationally in several print and online literary journals and anthologies.