Plunking - Elizabeth Bates

The magic of music starts the same for everyone,

extemporaneously rollicking across ivory keys.

With some rehearsing the simple tunes begin to

fill a home. “Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater” is

easy enough to plunk out. And with time and

confidence “Heart and Soul” finds its place

amongst the beloved tunes that generation

after generation play upon the old, un-tuned

upright. The music alone is not the only treasure

the piano offers. That place along the arm where

the wood is chipping off is the spot my

mother chewed on as a four-year-old, as her

own siblings plunked out this song and that,

maybe even “Heart and Soul.” The rightmost pedal

that no longer rises or falls is the result of years

of familial love, love so full and heavy that the

floor holds the damper pedal in a decades-long hug.

Bio:

Elizabeth Bates is a high school poetry and creative writing teacher. Her work has appeared in The Ekphrastic Review, Versification literary zine, Kreaxxxion Review, and The Daily Drunk mag. Bates is currently drafting her debut fiction novel. She lives in Washington state with her husband, son, and two Siberian Huskies.