Impossible Request

Play me a song, piano man;
Grant me this request, if you can.

I’m feeling down since my love left;
I’m lost without him, sad, bereft;
Are your skills worthy, honed, and deft?

Play a tune that’s sad, but not grim,
That causes the lights here to dim,
Fills my eyes with tears to the brim;
A song that reminds me of him.

Music can soothe the savage beast,
But can’t stop the sun in the east;
Does it have clout beyond a priest?
Can it bring from death the deceased?
Will it repair my heart, at least?

Make everyone else go away,
Keep all my evil thoughts at bay;
There’s nothing more that I can say;
There’s not a song these keys can play,
To end this hell without delay,
This endless night without a day.

Copyright © 2022 Brandon Ellrich

This poem was inspired by a post on the Skeptic’s Kaddish. It is a monometric, each stanza having its own rhyme scheme, containing one more line than the one before, with eight syllables in each line (but can be any form of meter). Please feel free to try your own monometric (augmented or diminished). Write in the comment section or send a link to your own post.

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