It is not the Grand Piano Deaths

It is Not the Grand Piano Deaths

It is not the grand piano deaths
The ham handed
pounding of a non-virtuoso
belying Bach
or troubling with tschaikovsky

It is not the grand scale architecture deaths
of flying buttresses
of concrete and steel
imprisoning souls
that must be free

it is the little deaths

the nodding of hello to a neighbor
and receiving no response
the seeing of a ragged child
and passing by unmoved
the concentration on a false goal
and refusing
to look toward the light.

These are the deaths
that mount daily
in the souls of men
and make them unfit for the kingdom of peace

The story has been told
ten thousand times
egyptian, roman, greek
judaic, christian,moslem
death and resurrection
on the grandest scale
promises of light
and understanding
promises of painless eternities
where sure winged angels
do nothing but praise and praise the days

it is not the grand deaths
but the small ones
that we earthbound creatures
must endure
must survive
must puzzle
and solve
before we know
the coming of the light