when pianos fall into trees...

it was sometime during the early summer of 1906 that a piano fell from the sky. at first everyone in the surrounding areas could hear only the distant strums of an aeolian harp, as gravity pressed wind through its strings. it seemed a subtle, but heavenly voice, calling, droning, like a few drops of pear scented syrup coating a cloud.

as it kept falling, still not yet within view, the locals began to notice a hum less heavenly. the speed of the fall increasing, and the wooden case ripening, tumbling forth, as the hums were slowly overwhelmed by frenetic taps and bursts.

it was then that a black dot appeared to be born through the whiteness of clouds... the sounds rapidly rising, the dot rapidly growing, the piano rapidly falling. it began to seek a place of landing.

eventually, the piano noticed a perfect tree, connecting its own case of wood (with such beautifully vibrating voices within) to the tree's beautiful wooden trunk, and longing for the harmonic potential of the sounding of its strings with the rustling of the leaves.

the piano dreamed of wood upon wood, strings upon leaves, and the music that only pianos and trees make together (indeed, the music that only this piano and this tree would make together), and all seemed right and purposeful.

the people who were standing and watching understood the imminent severity of the crash, and they hid themselves in their houses. they wished not to become broken. they placed their ears to their walls knowing that the sound would be softened, and much more beautiful this way, particularly if it was heard without sight.

and then, very quickly, and without any thought, piano and tree (and in essence, sky and earth) came together. it was not so much a crash, as a great sounding - a deafening burst of the resonance of two forms coming together in an instant. its magnitude was overwhelming for a few seconds and then suddenly, as if by magic, near silence. then the whole became a gentle resonance, surrounded by floating dust. a continual sounding as the scene was occasionally stroked by the wind. the sound was quite beautiful.

as for the piano and the tree, they remain intertwined as if stone. they are caught in the stillness of sleeping, and either found or lost together. the photo seen above is from 1907, and is the only remaining document of the event. if you look deeply and close your eyes, you can still hear the resonance of strings and leaves, their stillness still caressed occasionally by the wind...