Poetry: The Silences
by John T. Marohn
The Silences
Women in Black on Elmwood Avenue and Bidwell
I see
The tips of green grass
When the lazy moon
Yawns.
This waiting between silences
Is not peace.
But in your
Solemn quiet,
You are firm in your fear
Of hollowed-out ground,
Where bodies are clumped
Together like rubber dolls,
When earth-questions seem
Out of place:
“Did you see my keys?”
“Where’s my wallet?”
“Where were you last night?”
“Why did you leave me?”
And then I wonder
What fills the air
At that moment
Right before the hanging,
Or the content of the unstirred silence
After the needle is injected,
The lethal space between
I am here and
I am no more.
Does wondering replace
Their lives
Or our stale, exhaled breaths?
—john t. marohn
John T. Marohn is a freelance writer and author of Tiorunda Stories, a novel set in a suburb of Buffalo in the 1950s.
How to get your poetry in Artvoice
Literary Buffalo occasionally features poetry by local writers. The poetry editor is Florine Melnyk. Submissions of no more than five poems and no more than 10 pages in length can be sent by e-mail to florine@starcherone.com or by mail to Florine Melnyk, Poetry Editor, Artvoice, 810 Main St., Buffalo, NY 14202 Please include a self-addressed stamped envelope to have manuscripts returned.
Issue Navigation> Issue Index > v8n8 (week of Thursday, February 19, 2009) > Literary Buffalo > Poetry: The Silences This Week's Issue • Artvoice Daily • Artvoice TV • Events Calendar • Classifieds |