Sound Check
© Ramzi Albert Rihani

 

A sound check ignites a flame

In a distance of incendiary nights

Back and forth the ringing breaks

As the dawn announces a new appetite

 

Hendrix and Joplin overdose and die

Others overdose and fly

Pour it slowly little one

As the thirst for more brings a new might

 

Like a shooting star, coming from under

Never faltering, never blinking, never done

Till it grows in a roaring thunder

And the little one awakens with dreams undone

 

In the realm of her senses

People gather, ponder, and offer wonders

While at the banks of the river

She bathes in waters clear and humble

 

A deafening silence sticks like glue

For an hour, a day or two

Cheats the dash, the charm and the lure

While she silently mixes the brew

 

Dark here, light there, and flair everywhere

Time to reverse, converse or despair

When will they meet?

In a day, a month, but not in a year