Gram had an old piano It sat in the front room There was a scorch mark on the top Made by a cigar from the past It always sat there silent I never ever saw it played But, I heard of all the parties And the music from gram She told us kids "don't touch it" "Just leave it all alone" So, we left it like she told us We did as we were told Even though we'd heard the stories Of the music and the parties And the fun that used to be We watched as Gram would sit Close her eyes, and fade out To the parties and the music And the good times of the past She'd leave us to our own devices Of which one, was not the piano She told us it had been there Since about nineteen sixty four And to me, that's a long time Especially for a piano to not be played It had to be out of tune by now But, we'd neve know She'd tell us of the parties How the neighbors would drop by How the music would be lively Then, she'd fade off once again Back to the parties and the past There were mice living in the piano At least if not now, there once were You could see droppings in the corner And the scratches by the pedals But, we never saw the mice I guess they knew the piano was out of bounds too As we got older and time passed by We wouldn't go to Grams place as much And she never moved the piano We would still hear the stories Either on the phone or during the visits Both were more infrequent as we all aged We knew she'd fade off Sometimes during our chats on the phone Sometimes during our visits Back to the past To the parties and the music Gram passed last year While she was sitting in her chair She went to the past And stayed there while I was making tea I ended up with the piano I can't play, not that I ever would None of the other could either But, I was the oldest Now, every so often, I'll fade out Back to the stories of the parties That I never went to And I think about the music That I never heard But, I remember how she said it was How it must have sounded The fun they had The fun she was reliving Grams piano sits in my house now In the hall never played It sits with its memories Announcing what we all had missed It sits, silent, and it's me who shares the tales To all who will listen when they visit I got Grams piano and I didn't get the mice