"When Humans Warble"
When I hear a voice rich with vibrato,
I mean,
a vocalist that is truly warbling,
Warbling with intention,
warbling in rhythm & rhyme
and cadence
It takes me back.
Back,
to a Primordial State.
I'm afraid of heights . . .
Back before laws went beyond the lips of a king,
before the word "immigration" had ever been
uttered.
I'm afraid of being at sea . . .
Back before the tribe I came from
could wall itself off
and claim to be Chosen.
I'm afraid of passing out, or suffocating . . .
Back before male and female could distinguish
the differences in their gaze,
let alone their bones and hearts.
I'm afraid of flying . . . .
Back to a state where I have no control,
no sense of up or down,
no sensation of forwards or backwards,
no awareness of past or future.
I'm afraid of any psychedelic drug . . .
When I hear a singing voice warbling,
I feel that the car I'm driving
could simply set its own agenda, its own timetable.
When I hear a voice hiding behind swathes of vibrato,
calling forth lyrics,
invoking ghosts…
I simply
Breathe.
May 2020
