All Language Does
The sharp click
the thumb encourages
from the pen’s end,
the click the mind
fills in. Where is
the sound. We want
to gobble it down,
file it in the Repository
of Noises, Available
and Ordinary yet
Powerful. The best-
selling birdcall
is made of cast zinc
and red birch wood.
When you twist
the metal peg in
the wooden chamber,
the squeak attracts
birds. Not because
it sounds just like
a bird, but because
the sound makes them
wonder what it is,
just like you, when
you hear a chirp
coming from your
cousin’s clasped hands.
People invent the oddest things.
ReplyDeleteWow! How to manage to ground so much deeply felt epistemological doubt in striking, concrete images (that connect together to boot) is a wonder. As for the gorgeous sound - I so want to go all Orson Welles over it!
ReplyDeleteI love the possibilities of meaning in your title.
ReplyDeleteThe sound in your poems is always so crisp, Hannah. Enjoyed this one!
ReplyDeleteWow...I did not see this one coming...sometimes I can guess but not this one. I am going to respect that click quite a bit more especially since I tend to click click click until the word comes out. : )
ReplyDeletea birdcall made of red birch..... sounds made from ingredients... from 'things'.... that has my mind drift to beautiful fantastical places :)
ReplyDeletethea.
xx
ohhh, you make me smile, an unfolding kind of smile as though it is made of unfurling metal and once made, can not be undone. well, perhaps bent a little.
ReplyDeletexo
erin
Great stuff, Hannah.
ReplyDelete