June 15, 2009

Silent, the Drum

The drummer straddles her
belly-down across the bed.
Double-fisted fury
pounds its rhythm on her head.

Glassy-eyed, enraptured
by the song of primal beast,
he's deaf to the cacophony--
children's screams cannot compete.

Then finally, the drum,
wet and red, dares to respond.
"You're scaring the children."
With four words, this concert's done.

2 comments:

Paul said...

Wow, it is very confronting but the ending somehow pulls it back and gentlifies it almost. It's wonderfully made too.

Agnes said...

Thanks, Paul. It's another old one. I've been contemplating the edge at Stoning the Devil. What's "edgy"? If you live there is it still edgy? This piece just leaves a little sting, like a papercut, I think. At the end, there's a sense of relief that you didn't actually lose an arm.

Or maybe that's just me.