A Word for Living Creatures
we want to be whole
but we are broken
we are broken
we cannot do anything
we are broken and
against a great wall
we cannot do anything
cannot climb over it
cannot dig beneath it
cannot go through it
our broken bones
our bruised skin
we are broken at
the bottom of a great wall
who will save us
we are broken
who will help us
we cannot
do anything
Another sort of forgetting -
the hand lifted in farewell, the back
turning, or the shadow
already disappearing.
or
The way we refuse to speak
to each other. A formal - no, the formal -
sort of greeting:
How are you?
The usual answer. The whisper inside me
that wants to know more, to know
the answer, the real answer,
that wants to know everything -
How are you?
The whisper quivers
in the mirror, begs to touch
and to be touched,
refuses to be silent -
Love begs for nearness -
The whisper turning
into a scream, a shriek, or the wind
whistling through the unsealed window.
It is broken,
snapped in two.
It cannot be repaired.
It cannot be replaced.
It is broken.
No one has the wire you need.
No one has the tools you seek.
Play on the broken wire.
Tie a knot in it.
Pluck on the knot.
Pluck on the wire.
Listen to it sing
its broken song.
Listen to its throb
and hum, hear the pause
before it sings
and sings again.
