technological failures

for Peter

technology often fails in spectacular ways
wires spark and fry systems, millions gone
in a system warning and overload…
beep 
beep 
beep, crash.

sometimes though, it is quieter
a systematic failure of communication
words, the way we string
them together, break them apart.

dependant clauses must be placed with
the independent, apostrophes show possession
though there are conflicting policies
about how to show possession when writing nouns
the single takes a single, while plural
takes a plural
rules stretch for miles in the unconscious
of the native English speaker

but those fundamentals fail.
words don’t work when a look
sends blood rushing into your ears
the world tilts every so slightly and finds
a new center and at
that moment
you realize any words are trivial.

poet or not

language is a technology, and it fails
as readily as wires and the rest