To Play a Bach Prelude and Fugue

Forces of nature and chaos collaborate,
guiding my fingers along a gilded path.
My mind leaps - where to go next?
But divine intervention
suddenly
suddenly makes me relax ...
and my brain lets go of its messages,
and they tumble into the abyss,
while my hands suddenly become foreign.
I watch them, fascinated:
twisting, turning, and arching;
making fantastic patterns in the air above
and leaving shimmering particles of dust on the keys.
My consciousness is merely a spectator to this event.
And finally, racing, my fingers trill and run
to the last note resounding and echoing in my ears,
and I realize that I have touched
the limit of human divinity.

by Aaron Shield, Seekonk, MA