“Going Deaf” by Michael Simms is a great poem. Make that GREAT. It’s big in all the good ways, and quiet where it needs to be. Read it. Your day will improve.
Now is the time for drowsy tanagers. -– E.S.
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First I lost the tick of snowflakes hitting glass.
Then the sound of the cat’s tongue running over her fur.
It used to be I could almost hear her tail moving,
The muscles of the back stretching, the yawn going to a different register…
I lost the buzz of the fly, the distant hammer of my neighbor fixing his roof,
The whine of wind in the rafters and the exact words you speak
As you walk away, rooms opening to other rooms, houses full
Of music I’ll never hear as I walk by. The tinny laughter
Of television sitcoms I don’t miss,
Nor bus-farts nor gunshots of the cops
But Louis Armstrong, Bessie Smith… missing a few notes
Means losing the whole song, the way all the beads
Fall to the floor when the string breaks.
.
What I miss…
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Oh wonderful , if you know what i mean! Lovely rendering.
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One of my favorites!
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Thanks for reposting this poem, Robert!
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It was a privilege, Michael. The poem gives me shivers.
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Thanks, Robert!
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Fantastic – thank you for spreading this one – quite relevant!
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It hits home!
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