Piano Recital

Artist: Dorina Costras

I am sitting in a symphony hall way up in the highest of the balconies facing north.  In front of me I see the vastness of an almost empty stage, slightly lit with a black piano and bench positioned in the center.  The stillness on the stage is soft and warm with the brown tones of the floor and walls blending into the silence.

The hall itself is dimly lit and there is a slight haziness to the atmosphere as people begin to enter her domain.  I sit with my eyes closed and listen to the human sounds that start to permeate the room and vibrate off the walls.  The energy changes.  The lights seem brighter.  The sounds more crisp.

I look over the balcony railing and see a sea of the back of heads, hundreds of them all shapes and sizes.  They are moving about bobbling back and forth, up and down, turning in directions, but, they are all faceless.  I never see their faces. 
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The lights dim and the pianist walks onto the stage.  She is very tall and slender and stands erect.  Hers is the only face visible and she feels distant and unattached to those of us she will be performing for.  She bows and walks to the bench where she sits down without a sound.
And then she begins to play.  At that very moment the entire ceiling and roof of the hall open up revealing a dark sky filled with brilliantly shining stars that seem to be moving in an upward vortex towards the moon.  It is an endless stream of light that becomes brighter and brighter with every note she plays.
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I am swept up in the vortex and am floating weightless in the swirling energy.