odespinner

Phantom Noise

There is this ringing hum    this

bullet-borne language    ringing

shell-fall and static    this late-night

ringing of threadwork and carpet    ringing

hiss and steam    this wing-beat

of rotors and tanks    broken

bodies ringing in steel    humming these

voices of dust    these years ringing

rifles in Babylon    rifles in Sumer

ringing these children their gravestones

and candy    their limbs gone missing    their

static-borne television    their ringing

this eardrum    this rifled symphonic    this

ringing of midnight in gunpowder and oil    this

brake pad gone useless    this muzzle-flash singing    this

threading of bullets in muscle and bone   this ringing

hum    this ringing hum    this

ringing