Raymond Luczak

NOISE

Listen to the audio version read by Michael Northen.

We've got a message no one tries to hear.
Humans are still fools to believe in words
and beautifully orchestrated songs.
We are the true spirit of the material world.
We spike sound waves and thrash about,
discordant rumble and clash of chaos
a screeching metal against dulled metal.
Our grunge is only starting to whip chains.
We bong-a-gong in tethered wails and flails
reverberating louder than hollow
garbage cans now jouncing old tumbleweeds
and guitar solos over-wah-wahing.
Petrified words will perish in due time.
We grunt and sigh and GROAN and spit and g r o w l.

This poem first appeared in Luczak's A Babble of Objects (2018).

Raymond Luczak is the author and editor of over 20 books, including seven poetry collections such as Mute, How to Kill Poetry, and The Kiss of Walt Whitman is Still on My Lips. Red Hen Press will bring out his next book Flannelwood in the spring of 2019. His work has been nominated nine times for the Pushcart Prize. A playwright, he lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota. [raymondluczak.com].