The Guitar Lesson

The pupil is twelve-- attractive, withdrawn
In a midnight blue school uniform

Lips just a little too full for her face
Distant eyes full of space

In her posture no trace of coquette
No defiance

She fingers the frets, looking forlorn
Crossing her legs where her tights have been torn

Starts as her mother comes into the room
And the afternoon grows still

And her mother feels a chill, shivers
And buttons her coat

I gently correct the curve of her back
And I open my back in the now empty flat

At the classical piece I've had her prepare
And her arms are bare as she plays

And I draw back behind her ear
A few strands of hair gone astray

She shows her my bracelet, the lesson is done
I turn it around between finger and thumb
We sit face to face, and it seems to me then
That her face is the face of a cat

And touching the place where her breasts will be
I press my hand flat

She comes into my lap
I turn her around
Her hands clasp my neck
And her feet skim the ground

Her skirt travels up under my palm
But the pupil sits looking so calm

As if listening to the distant sound
Of a burglar alarm

What happened next is hard to recall
The guitar lesson left no traces at all
But now, from afar, it seems to resemble
A strange composition in oil

Of a man, a guitar
And an innocent little girl