Metamorphosis II

And then the darkness
exploded across the room
fragments and shards
piercing our palms
a shrouding heavy silence
woven from held breaths
and strained necks

out of the rumbling void
came a second explosion
a sustained bass note 
emanating from his one finger
sending shock-waves
unpeeling skin from bone

on top of the bass
he delicately placed
a warbling, undulating fifth 
rocking like a seesaw
back and forth
playing with our ears
near and then far again

the lid of the shell
fastened with three triads
an endless loop
up and back around
sliding against the fifths
interlocking fingers 

and so he pulled
the winding circle tighter
bass, then fifths and triads
each time more resonant
tugging at key changes
like invisible strings

somewhere in the growing waves
he climbed up the piano
up into my feet, legs
and into my belly
til my stomach
was a churning engine 
with his riff

it was at that point
I stopped breathing
my body detaching my soul
in one moment 
that like him
looped infinitely 
my eyes shut
to "listen better"

of its own accord
my right hand opened
and miles away
you took it in yours
feeling the music
in your fingertips

and just then
I could hear the
sound of your smile
bright as a 
perfect cadence
sustained, unbroken
from you to me

before I could smile
back, he tore off
the triads and the fifths
so all that remained
was the solitary bass
pining and alone