every note sang like
a morning bird
fingers grace keys
four strokes
four melodies
clear and ringing like a
tinkling bell
touched black and white keys
then cried hushed tears
they told us your eardrums were bruised –
damaged
vibrations hurt you –
made you cringe
muted noiseds turned into painful echoes
and reverberating sound closed you
out forever
so the world became silent
where were the chirping birds at dawn?
sun rising in the west
shadows in the east
play me a song, I signed
and you sat and you stared and your fingers moved,
but the world was silent to you
four stokes
four melodies
nothing
you told Mommy with your hands that you missed the sound
of her voice
gold raining from the north; sun rising
silver lighting in the south
you're not afraid of the loud thunder anymore,
and I miss the sound of your voice
too