Volumes
Today’s poem was collaboratively written (just this morning!) by Joel Nyland and Chris Martin. Joel wants you to know: “YOU CAN WRITE VOLUMES TOO!”
VOLUMES
Today is quiet and tomorrow is loud
I SMELL THE DUST OF VOLUMES
Purple, violet, lilac, and cream
BOOKSHELVES SAGGING UNDER THEIR WEIGHT
Ears like pink sinkholes
SINKHOLES FULL OF WORDS
Words full of dust
DUST OF PREVIOUS LIVES
Lives both quiet and loud
DID THEY HAVE PINK EARS?
Did they have red lips?
OH MY WHAT WOULD RED LIPS HAVE SAID?
Is smelling a kind of reading?
MY DOG THINKS ITS THE BEST KIND OF READING
Is kissing a kind of reading?
PERHAPS FOR SOME VIRUSES
Viruses write volumes, too
IF YOU WERE A VIRUS WHAT WOULD YOU WRITE FIRST?
I don’t know, but it would be almost silent
WOULD IT BE A HOW TO AVOID VACCINES VOLUME?
SILENT BUT LOUD
It would be about clefts and nooks and folds
AND PATHWAYS AND WASTE
And ways to pray for the sneeze
GESUNDHEIT!