INVENTION OF SILENCE
—for my sister
1. Inside
Don't lean on the white walls
They are epidermis
Don't stare at the guard
He will smell your thoughts
Never leave your fingers in pockets
They will be seen as closing
Under no circumstance tempt the chair
Leashed to its table
Don't think the shadows breaking through
The window bars are our black wings
Don't think we can go home now
Flags are clapping
Don't think
Never recall the smell of steaming beets bleeding
Dipping the bruised kernels of corn in salt water
Don't confuse a pin with a pen
You don't know what the spell is
Don't say let's play Jumpsies and Alak Dolak
There are ropes and sticks
Don't call for your father
Never give up the names
Don't memorize the Qur'an
You may need something to read
At no time imagine you'll get used to it
Before is also ahead, in front of
Stop adding with a flashlight
Ten fingernails, ten toes, twenty-eight teeth
Under the blanket
Stop counting
"The bed is where we all return"
"The bed is where we always return"
2. Outside
Don't trust the white
Cherry blossoms can't recall the winter
By no means assume
Since there is a phone someone knows your number
Stop repeating "If I had locked the doors and windows"
"If we had left the country"
"If I had prayed"
"If a storm had closed the schools"
Under no circumstance incite the lips sheltering the tongue
Serve them tea and sweets
Say she is gone to study abroad
Stop following the questions
They leave trails
At no time write
Sincerely
Don't look for her among the adjectives in the dictionary
Leave her books alone
Don't ask for a decision
They'll deliver a sentence
Don't look for a wall calendar
It's always today, yesterday, and tomorrow
Don't yield to the sentence
Verbs aren't responsible for the subject
Don't destroy her evidence in the wardrobe
It might be all you'll have
Never say no or yes
You don't know the questions
At no time seal the windows
Let the memories leave the living room
Don't whisper
Everybody knows
TYPO
31
|