constructing poetry

Chopsticks: Theme and Variations

my daddy taught us rhythm
at the keyboard—
just two fingers, he said.
one on each hand,
and count:

one, two, three, four, five, change.
one two three, four five change,
one two three, four five change,
one-hold, two three
repeat,

then the chorus:
one hold-two, three hold-four, five hold-six,
one two three four hold-five
one two three four hold-five,
and done.

in the bass, he rounded out
the melody—ohm, pah, pah,
ohm, pah, pah,
and suddenly, we played music.
not just chopsticks.

we laughed, sitting on the bench
that my mama covered in
patchwork—lavender and blue
to protect it from scratches
and mud and grass stains
and the occasional dog slobber.

when we knew it, he taught us
the bass, and we’d play
ohm, pah, pah,
while he played chopsticks
like we hadn’t heard it before—

one-y, two-y, three-y, four, five, six—

and we stopped playing to see
what he was doing, but he said,
just play, and we did,
and suddenly, we were playing
something new.
and then he changed again.
we knew better to stop this time,
as he played chopsticks

one, two, three, four, down, six.

and then we switched, so that we could learn.
my sister learned best.

she plays chopsticks two handed,
her left hand on the bass,
while her right hand to play the melody.
and her children look on and ask,
show me how, and they play chopsticks,
two fingered and laughing,
theme and variations.

line count: 50

Prompt ▼

Prompt for: Feb 25 (RenFyn)
Subject or Theme: Chopsticks
Word(s) to Include: finger, lavender, grass (or any derivatives of these words)
Forbidden Word(s): food, eat, rice, piano, pair (or any derivatives of these words)
Additional Parameters: at least 19 lines, rhyming or not.
Remember, do not use forbidden words ANYWHERE, including title or the brief description.

I couldn't find an example on youtube. It's probably there, somewhere, I just can't find it.