The boy walks in, a lifeless surrender in his eye and his shoulders slouched like a prisoner nearing death’s row. “Try this” says the teacher, as the boy approaches the bench and sits before the piano. Gently placing his hands on the keys, he begins to play. Hesitant at first, he plays softly and begins to crescendo, like an oceans rippling tides, thrusting forward and falling back with ease. The song is the sparrows cry, mourning her broken wing, for without it she cannot fly to her lovers nest. A hopeless tune he plays, and although the lesson ends, the song remains to narrate his life.
The song played is the sparrows cry, and the sparrow is Jean Bonnet, wounded and dismayed, and stripped of flight by life’s cruel intent.