A Banjo Has Died

after a long life of being used well,

playing to both massive crowds in a hall

and only one person in an empty room,

after tens of thousands of string changes–

getting unstrung and feeling naked

and then restrung and feeling whole–

after constantly searching for the keys,

not finding the keys, circling around the keys,

after cold dry winters and the hot wet summers

always under grip of sweaty hands,

a banjo has died.

death comes not because it can no longer be

played but because its former player passed

and without an heir apparent there is no one

who can take it, who can care for it,

who can to play it and bring it to life again

so it is not just a soundless instrument

laying atop an also neglected piano

like so many others– abandoned

for techno or because of the Internet

or television or a lack of dancing venues.