A Rainy Morning

A young woman in a wheelchair,

wearing a black nylon poncho spattered with

rain,

is pushing herself through the morning.

You have seen how pianists

sometimes bend forward to strike the keys,

then lift their hands, draw back to rest,

then lean again to strike just as the chord

fades.

Such is the way this woman

strikes at the wheels, then lifts her long

white fingers,

letting them float, then bends again to strike

just as the chair slows, as if into a silence.

So expertly she plays the chords

of this difficult music she has mastered,

her wet face beautiful in its contraction,

while the wind turns the pages of rain.