SNAPSONG

(Sound & Silence)

When Language argues with Silence
And Syllables stumble
On the outcrop of broken codes, do we
Seek solace in the monastery of the Mute?

The Parliament opens today
To a crowd with absent tongues
But is this the silence that cost
So many millions of noisy money?

So many times you have to shout
So as not to be heard
When last I saw a noisy barrel
It was loud with tremendous nothing

The magic we seek
Lives in the belly of the drum
Those who master the membrane
Will provoke the magic of sounding

Once not too long ago
The Mouth and the Ear were husband and wife
‘Civilization’ planted a noisy distance
And now the couple live like sundered stars

Said the Sage:
Shout so you could be heard,
Whisper so the world might listen
Proverbs, once again, to Bones and Silence*

*Signifying on Wole Soyinka’s Dance of the Forests.