Kim Roberts Hearing Loss
I.
Hammer, anvil, and stirrup
furnish the yellow vestibule,
echo every faint breeze,
rustle of paper, small words
long forgotten, spoken close and low.
Long after the electric pulses
slow, the reverberation:
this is song.
The vibration goes on, white bones
that shiver and buzz; the room
is not empty. Here is the drum,
the cilia, the perfect alignments.
Here the desire.
Here the memory of desire.
II.
Hear the memory of desire:
rustle of paper, small words
that shiver and buzz, the room
long forgotten. Spoken close and low,
the vibration goes on. White bones—
hammer, anvil, and stirrup—
furnish. The yellow vestibule
is not empty. Here is the drum,
the cilia, the perfect alignments.
Slow the reverberation:
long after the electric pulses
echoed every faint breeze,
here was desire.
This was song.