KAMEL

i was looking for a piano bench

i had found one on craigslist that said it was at a church. when i went there everything was closed but after i rang the bell a man came to the door and invited me in. he said that the church's thrift store had closed down some time before but that he was setting up for a rehearsal of the church's christmas choir and that i should stay. i played piano in the center of the cathedral and he offered some tips, then the singers arrived. the soprano was italian and had a very beautiful voice. after all of the singing he invited me to a diner and we talked for a while about our love lives. he said being christlike was very hard and that he had a male friend somewhere uptown or in soho that had a grand piano i should play. i told him about my uzbek girlfriend and he warned me to be careful. i thought about that conversation a lot afterward