Musical Fences

I saw a commercial for it on TV.  It was this backyard fence that you could play the piano on.  The slats of the fence looked like alternating black and white piano keys, and they functioned as piano keys as well.  The woman in the commercial demonstrated the fence by playing this haunting piece of music, every note dropped like a soft star in an inky ocean of melancholy.

So I installed this fence in my own yard, hoping to compose my own masterpiece out of lazy days lounging around in the rain.  I lay back and let my toes play against the keys as my mind chased memories, ruminations.  I tried to channel all of this into the music and it began to build into a slow and insistent gallop.   The music reflected the chase itself, more than the things chased.  It built towards a crescendo.  But then it broke abruptly, like life.  I had been distracted, frustrated, and it was all lost.