Accompaniment: Or, the Piano Player and all her friends

My Shadow has long since quit my side

To follow my Echo, who’d left me behind

Where I’d always observed an inseparable three

They only saw someone they loved more than me

I’ll admit it was dismal when they went away

(So I said to my Hubris, who’d wanted to stay)

Neither waltz nor sonata could tempt their return

But my playing at keys prompted Hubris to yearn

How he longed for a sweetheart from soul for himself

He courted young Rage and old Envy — who else?

While my melodies sombered and stifled the air

He withered and wept over distant Despair

But Despair had loved Shadow, she pined for him still

While her sister Anxiety gnawed at my will

How she urged me to let my hands quiet and think—

Then to scrub and to scour off skin in the sink

But without flesh my fingers are nothing of use

And so I played on despite bribes and abuse

From fear-muddled Wisdom I heard not a sound;

I think Echo’s leaving had beaten her down 

I miss Shadow and Echo, so deep that it grates 

But they’re also the fortunate ones who escaped

A mad melodramatic, this nattering throng

Soothed and sensationalized by a song

Soon the silence announces that I’ve reached an end

What becomes of us now? I would never pretend

Complete comprehension — but suspect I might find

I was never a thing but the crowd in my mind.

About the Author

Julianna Reidell is a sophomore English and French major at Arcadia University. Her work won Gold and Silver medals in the national Scholastic Art and Writing Awards competition during high school; her humor piece “Love with Romeo and Juliet: A Parody” was featured in the Scholastic publication Best Teen Writing of 2019. Her work can be found on the teen humor website The Milking Cat and in former issues of Quiddity.