Piano Man

 

In darkness, at the edge of the Apocalypse,
the piano man plays with passion
for the refugees arriving, heartbroken
and desperate, at the Poland-Ukraine border,
clutching their babies and their bags.

He drove 5000 miles to play for them.

"Peace starts right here," he said. "Peace
through music," music which carries
our humanity and our hope.

I think of the piano man in The Pianist,
playing for the German officer in the rubble,
reaching a hardened heart with the magic
of his fingers on the keys.
I think of the orchestra playing as
the Titanic was sinking.

In the faces around the piano,
for a moment, broken hearts remember
that life holds beauty, too,
not only terror, and that, with courage,
life will begin again.

Davide Martello is a German pianist of Italian descent, who travels around to conflict zones, bringing some hope and beauty to people suffering the effects of war. The best of humanity shining forth to remind us it is there, even as others are displaying the worst side of human nature.