A black piano bench stands by itself

in the middle of a shopping mall.

People walking by wonder, “Where is the piano?”

It’s in a different state,

standing beside a rural highway,

tilting slightly into a ditch.

People stop their cars

but they do not get out—

where could they put a piano?

Then they drive away

embarrassed finally by the silence.

Meanwhile in the mall

a young girl sits down on the piano bench,

lifts her hands in the air in front of her

and waits.