The Performance

I sit in an empty room, there I am facing the attraction of all my attention. This accordion player before me sits with her eyes closed. I examine the room and the air around her then I look down at the accordion hanging off of her body and. It shines under the dim lighting of the room, each key glistens as if rubbed with car wax, every single inch of it is spotless and shining. The musician behind the instrument is small in comparison, she's but a small and frail looking young woman so much so that she seems to be lost behind her instrument, her presence being drawn into it. She's barely in the room as far as feeling goes and yet there she is confusing my perception. Her breathing is long, drawn out, and shallow. It's as if she's trying to disappear completely. The air is stale with dust and dim lighting when she suddenly inhales deeply and with a sudden push lets out a haunting tone from her accordion. The notes keep coming and assault my chest with violent vibrations of quick notes and loud drawn out chorales. She's not just playing a piece nor reciting a song. The heart and the soul are what seem to be mentioned most in music and in this case this is what she revealed to me. Without speaking a word she threw emotions at me and drowned me in a sea of them. She stomped and inhaled then she exhaled and stomped and all the while continued playing this hauntingly beautiful piece of soul that I couldn't help but let creep past my ear drums and into my own heart and soul. I was simply pierced by her art while drowned in her emotions and while it may sound unpleasant I must retort back at any who believe this and say that it was one of the most breathe taking experiences of my life. When she first began I felt by heart shaken to life and by the end when the room was silent and all I could hear was her ragged breathe from performing, I was in tears and my heart wouldn't stop thumping against my chest. In that moment I felt like nothing else mattered anymore, this amazing woman managed to simultaneously move my soul and steal my heart all in one fell swoop.