The horns I used to play in weekend bands
asleep in their closet cases,
my wife has started piano lessons
and practices daily with such joy
that she gives dedication a bad name.
She’s still playing songs a child would play.
Skip to My Lou, the Bridge of Avignon.
She works her Alberti brass in her left hand,
Hits the same wrong note more than once,
And I look up from the dishes in the sink
or the news on TV and bark NO!.
She’s never angry, never replies. Just runs
the phase again, right this time. Over time
she’s improving little by little, maybe a little
every day.

Richard Terrill was an Eau Claire resident throughout the 1980s. He is a winner of the Minnesota Book Award. “The Lesson” is from Almost Dark (2010)and is reprinted here by permission of the author. You can read a bit more about Richard here.