One must wonder
at this world of
beer cans, ashtrays and “just because”,
wonder at the
movement of it all,
how pages yellow and lovers spent
crawl away to their corner of the bed,
how the flowers in the vase
dry and disappear, deny the day,
wonder at the way
it all slides down,
wonder and listen for
the sound that can’t be found
the sound that accompanies our
great, so gentle, imperceptible fall,
listen for the orchestra’s honest organizing whistle
listen for the violin’s whine and the oboe’s sad skip
the swish of the conductor’s baton
listen for this one step, two step, the beat
we all, groping for each other
dance to complete
to greet and applause beyond our laws
our false creations, our fabulous flaws.
One must wonder
at this world of
so much music nobody hears.
How much better we might dance
if we did.
Like a cook smelling, taking off the lid.
One must wonder where
the life lived is hid.