Study Sessions
Secrets of celibacy whispered in small rooms
As the sun makes its daily dent on the earth
The only sound for miles
(Not reverberating through headphones)
Air conditioning
Whizzing and relinquishing poison and heat
While I pause for effect
Responses are just serve returns:
Too close and a volley of words barrage the senses
And too wide is a double fault
So I whisper tender questions to tender confessions
To tender walks in a billowy autumn breeze
Aloe Vera pit-stops are made but not before warnings
Like disclosures or disclaimers or brushes of the shoulder
Before tearing living things from each other
Because it’s what we’re good at
Is it weird?
No, I’ve read about this on the internet
We keep walking as tall buildings bring with them early signs
Of the darkness approaching
Nay, it’s arrival
Shadows disappear
I can barely see and my thoughts should be of robbers in the night
Or a fearful passerby overwhelmed by the gravity of the moment
That comes later
Right now the waves thrash and thrash
Like the sound of blood pumping too hard
Eternity stretches by
I make a choice
Neither right nor wrong
But with repercussions that extend beyond myself
Though strangely years pass before it leaves me
I cannot swim
Nor am I willing to dip my toe in
So the walk home sounds like silent footsteps
And noise reverberating through headphones