She always had to be the strong one
the self-assured, clued-up, clever one
the first battle cry, the last word
the punchline, but never the joke
there were times, I admit
that I would picture her

Seated at her piano, naked—

these were the only times
she’d appear sincere
or even fragile
and to my mind
these were the times
she played
her most heartbreakingly moving tunes
of course, I never heard her sing them.