Broken Ears
today is the day we get out of jail
today the red carpet will roll under us
today our favorite food is back on the menu
important documents tumble from the sky
get stuck in our hair
we yank at them but nothing works
legislatures sit in dark cars overlooking feisty rivers
i have a law with your name on it
its sticking out of my back pocket
i will be careful and not smudge any of it
the President outlaws broken ears
how can you even begin to listen if your ears don't work
he says to a large news conference
sometimes i can hear you yelling
sometimes i can't hear a thing
is it wishful thinking
or has one of my ears gone kaput
can laws really define the hearts of men and women
so much road work needed there
so much time and effort
i think my ears are working okay enough right now
i put one next to the ground and listen for my cue
everyone knows their cue, right
we're all stage savvy, aren't we
a blues singer who has seen and felt too much
but maybe not enough
steps up to the plate
and begins to say it the way he sees and feels it
laws will never truly understand the hearts of women and men
the road work there constantly being worked on
late at night
or maybe early in the morning
hard to tell the difference
a wounded bird sings on a branch
i hear it in my broken ears
it will take me flying
across confused houses and apartments
of men and women trying to figure things out
it will take me dancing
across battlefields being born every second
it's in the trying
the beauty of life's struggle
it's in the not giving in, giving up, throwing in the
cliche driven towel
confused men and women
burdened by living
accept their confusion and doubt and pain
and become songs
in my broken ears
and those songs
unbreak my ears
and make their way
down the road to my heart
where the confusion does not disappear
but learns to coexist with
all that music that is at work
in the hearts of those confused men and women
trying to make it through
the ongoing
process of
a day.
---Scott Wannberg |
