Sound of Silence
after Simon and Garfunkel
listening to the city at night i trace the glow of its breath and
without light we dance shadow and pour through one another. in
hearing, in feeling, in arms’ reach. in darkness do you see the
people turning monsters. stumbling toward a streetlight naked
speaking in lost language. stumbling into a bar i ask for a light
without a cig, and instead an open maw. teeth flash a red-i.
talking into a stranger’s cup waiting for the sea to whisper back. saw
people stepping outside and never coming back. another shot. ten
more. then we’ll be human again. another shot. try a thousand.
maybe we’ll flood the streets. moonlight percussionist. brass people.
people ready to sing or people ready to riot. take my arms, maybe
thousand or so, and we’ll hold this city down. city hungers for more.
ten more shots. belly bloated with teeth of the dead. people
saw my scream but could not make out my jaw. every eye talking
i could not make out a word. we find each other. people without
light and only the dark of our skin. rising into a rooftop speaking
naked as a spiritual. city see me. of red and grave perched people.
the children born into this dark room with elephant hearing.
in a night, in a body, in a cursed year of language we went without
and held only to a song, to shadow, to the bricks still listening.
