Tinnitus
If the bones of the ear rang in hoops,
…………………………you could drop one
…………………………………………..down a flight of stairs
……….and watch it—hear it—
…………………………clink to rest
…………………………………………..like a dime,
………………..hard landing,
………………………………….the raw
……….swept floor sprouting
………………………………….splinters
………………..like summer broomstraw.
…………………………………………..A lost ring—
………………..lost thought, or the mind
…………………………listening
………………………………….inside itself, its motor
……….shrilling
………………..so if you were sharp
………………..you could step
…………………………headside and wind the band
……….tight
………………..on a finger.
………………………………….Like the tin lining copper
…………………………………………………………….saucepans,
…………………………………………………………….it passes heat
…………………………from flame,
……….water to rind to potato,
………………………………….a whispered
………………..hint
…………………………past silvery
………………………………….spinning’s rhythm.
……………………………………………………This is what it is
……………………………………………………to be alone.
………………………………….Remind me
……….what silence said, when I stood
…………………………………………..awake
………………..watching the lit plains sleep,
……………………………………………………flat grass
……….bending to obey, my long foot pressing,
………………..the wind crushing,
…………………………………………..and every claim
………………………………….I would later doubt
……………………………………………………not yet shouted
……….aloud, undreamed:
……………………………………………………we will die in din,
………………..rapt with our own blood,
……………………………………………………rivers
……….swirling up our necks’ fine muscles
…………………………to dance like the last drop
…………………………draining
……….dregs like grain,
……………………………………………………grapeskin,
the ring joining,
……….the marrying ring,
………………..the gemstone’s grimace, whistling
…………………………its threat:
………………………………….do not leave me,
………………………………….I can’t live
……….shut in where the wind jingles
…………………………………………..coins like a man’s hand pocketing
………………..a lifted wallet,
………………………………….I can’t unfold, counting
…………………………………………..takes time and this zigzag
………………………………………………………………………………rickrack
…………………………tying my hair back
…………………………………………..ribbons down-
………………………………….stream, spiny
…………………………………………..snakeskin, rushing,
………………..drifting,
…………………………sinuous,
…………………………………………..innocent
……………………………………………………as aloneness
………………..where sunspots’ shadows kissed
………………………………….sound into spinning, salt
…………………………………………..to gold,
lobes,
……….cups,
………………..drumheads,
………………………………….horseshoes
like spindles,
……….threads
………………..like nerves,
…………………………like hairs
………………………………….oiled slick by fingertips
………………………………….that strum not what they sing.