roy’s song

The piano man drew me in

With the sweet lullaby he played as a backdrop

To the swift movement of the herds of people.

I sat, thankful for this music

And it’s transformation of this place and space.

The man next to me invited piano man

To play Sounds of Silence

And with that, also invited friendship.

Sitting side by side, we were now joined

Together by our love for this music, for this moment.

His kind face and wise eyes

Turned to me and offered his story to me,

A story of love and loss and cycles

Returning here again with his wife, Mary

Ready to face the truth, together:

He and Mary, married 54 years

With 8 children, 30 grandchildren

77 and 74 years young

Not a perfect marriage, he offered. 

And what is? we laughed.

He, a musician himself

Playing lead guitar in a band with 3 of his children

His drummer daughter, with 5 children of her own

“It’s getting harder for us to play…what, with life” he murmured.

“And we’ve had such fun.”

The chorus of his story,

“Life’s been good.

We’ve done good.

The kids are good.

We’ll be okay.”

With the in-between sounds of silence

That his soul so clearly sang, and which spoke so much.

And as I rose to slip back into the herds,

We paused.

“And your first name?” he wondered.

“Amy”, I offered.

“Yes, and mine is Roy.”