The Eighth Notes - Feb. 19, 2026

I nod each finger

in sequence

down the digit line

as fast as I can -

scale of C played

on an air piano

like I first learned

on a real piano

there is ouch

to my speed

discomfort in the eighth notes

pain in the sixteenths

I’m trapped in ballads

the bittersweet kind

the kinds that play like

a pillow not for sleeping

I flex my fingers again

and surrender

arthritis

I live in a slowing world

of melodies, the simplest

of whole notes,

slipping through time