literature

Death Plays the Piano

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TheGlassIris's avatar
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Literature Text

And he's not bad either.

Arrived at the third funeral today, the sun
Was shining, the bouquets and wreaths
All in their respective vases, their dignified
Grief, yes, no one

No one really knows
Why he showed up.

(Ahem)

Now here's the room, we'll hold the service
Here, right where there
Is enough room, there's
Plenty of room where that came from.
And the casket, open
Of course,
We don't want the body
Left unseen
Unseen like the circumstances
That led to
This
Unfortunate
Day.

(Excuse me)

He's really quite good isn't he?
Skeleton hands and everything?
Must've had a lot of practice, with
These types of things.

Death plays the piano, well
Who would have thought?

You can hear Comptine
D'un Autre Été
From the movie "Amélie"
Fall in little cascades
Down on the grass gardens

Everything,
IS LOVELY
At this time of year.

Lovely, lovely
Your face, my friend
Has never been so lovely.

The body? Oh, yes.

The river's at the seams
Charon, be a dear.
Here's five-and-a-half pounds
An American quarter, two
Coins of silver, and

One memento: As promised,

My last picture of the wife.

No, no I
Won't be needing it. I've
Had enough of faces for today.
Y'know, he

Really is good at playing that piano
It's got
This lilt, that sound,
Have you ever heard
That kind of sound?

Lovely, lovely
The whole world's
Lovely.

Sweet as silver. Lovely
As bells.
I have no idea what I just wrote. O_O

For critique I would really like it if:

1) Point out any parts that don't make sense or need clarification.

2) How does the repetition of the word "lovely" fare towards the end? Personally I find it rather bothersome and would like a suggestion as to how I could express restrained grief with simple language.

3) Can you understand enough of the speaker's backstory? How he has been to three funerals in his lifetime and, as such, sees Death as a casual acquaintance rather than something to be feared?

4) Is the intended theme, "Dissolution of one's fear of death and the acceptance of grief and suffering as a natural part of life", conveyed effectively?

Thanks in advance to all feedback and critique. Your comments are the ones that make my stories better than they could have ever been alone.
© 2012 - 2024 TheGlassIris
Comments8
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TheMoorMaiden's avatar
This is so unusual. I love it. :D I really like how the piece flows so well between the goings on of the funeral and the recurring theme of Death playing the piano. The title works so well as you keep coming back to it. Wonderful work! :)