the piano teacher

a piano teacher lived
next door to me for a few years.

anne.
she taught music at the local
school

then taught children the piano
in her house

at night, or on weekends.
i'd hear the percussion of keys

through the wall.
almost music, but not quite.

the parents would idle in their
cars, out front
reading a paper,

or books, awaiting their prodigy
to come out.

one by one, they came as the years
passed.

occasionally a complete song
would be heard,

then she married again.
telling me in the snow one day

when shoveling out.
a picture of her fiancé on her phone.

the bright glow of a diamond on
her finger.

the music ended. and now a quiet
couple from
Minnesota live there.