Between my ribs there is a longing
Lilt by lilt, chord by chord,
I hear Gymnopedies revolving
Through my fingers, like fine silt
More and more the voice is calling
The narrator clears her throat
Like a stewardess
In a fresh pressed dress
Like a one-woman show
She smirks. She throws a look.
I know
A pause, and then Gymnopedies
Because it’s playing on repeat
I feel the chords
Inside my hands
Half-listening to her commands
It calms me as she says by rote
How to – in danger – keep afloat
The danger isn’t in the sea
Or in the fire or on the wing
The danger’s in the deafness of
A mind-altering suffering
Or so I thought
Her voice was gone
I could not find it anywhere
Through the sealing of my ears
In the heightened atmosphere
I worried that the pain would end
Forever words that once roamed free
But pain’s a kind of currency
When your trade is poetry
So now with better strength, I stand
And rummage through the pockets of
Five years of grit and overcoats
To find loose change and dental gum
With this, perhaps, I’ll pay my dues
With this, perhaps, I’ll slowly chew
My ears will pop. I’ll hear her rant
As we ascend above the land
And as we slip above the sea
I’ll hum to the Gymnopedies
mind mandarins 