by Louis Varriano

Forever waiting
Never knowing Time
As it lies in its black coffin
On the dusty old shelf
Completely forgotten
And without any life

Until I feel
The occasion is right
To take it down
Open its case
And give it a voice
That cries out
To the world
And reaches the soul
In the deepest of places
And all time seems to freeze
As my ears begin to hear
The pure sounds of music
That emanate from the instrustment in my hands

It sings of the happy
And weeps for the sad
As my fingers fly
Up and down its shiny silver back
As I blow a breath of life
Into my once dead and soulless clarinet.

It is not I but it
Who grieves and babbles
And squeaks and roars
And answers and sings
And wails and REACHES us.

My finges stumble,
I no longer know the way
My clarinet's song and life are over
I clean it out with a quiet reverence
And let it sleep eternally in its cozy bed
As it waits forever
Knowing no time
Until another comes
To give it the breath of life
So that it may sing again.

Congratulations to Louis. He was a runner-up in Writing magazine's Treasured Objects Contest. Students wrote about their favorite things in such insightful and powerful ways. Check back for the next two weeks to see more runners-up.