“in what language does rain fall over tormented cities”


rain dissolves languages, rain feeds, rain wears away,
breaks through—so patiently—all restrictions
it was the wettest time, it was the driest time
so much hunger and so many available ingredients
strawberries year round, hunger year round
in the summer we save on light and heat
in the winter we see how cold and dark we can stand

the land reflects those who live on, cities as tormented and neglected
as we who live in them, cut off from the necessary food of
face to face contact and shared air, as the land is tormented
by largest building, massacres of trees, rivers evicted from their banks

not later but now, breathing with one lung at a time so the other can rest
i’m allowed a half hour of news 3 times a day, not close to meals
times I want to walk through the wall no matter how high up I am

what’s left in me, what can sprout in a new realm, a new normal
we fall without hands to brace against ground that won’t feel us fall

pandemic pandemonium—culture against pan,
the god of many, of art & celebration, breaking through despair,
dancing coz I still have legs and the music inside me seldom stops,
an infectious laugh, a viral revival of vitality as health comes from within
pan a word for bread in some language
won’t pay the bills, fill English speaking stomachs
a panacea    panic    deadpan    panache


dan raphael