Stolen Violin
A Poem by Matt Gillam
I carry a velvet violin
in the case
where you left it
padlocked
by my
eardrums
You meant to throw it out,
to leave it shattered
in the trash
when your fingers had finally
betrayed you,
too
But I kept it safe
from you
(in me)
and play it
the way you used to play
No one but me
can hear the sounds you made,
the sounds that only I now make
in recollections
and forced memories
- but I play the damned thing
anyway
as I walk along the streets
and wait in lines
and end my days
I sound the songs you used to string
and the echoes stretch out
in long velvet wakes
across the follicles of hair
that wrap my scalp
when this empty bed
lets me sleep
Yes,
I have stolen
your violin
and I keep it tight
between
my ears
where you
cannot
destroy it
again
Matt Gillam, 20, is finishing his second year at Santa Monica College. Accepted at UC Berkeley for fall admission, he intends to major in philosophy.
December 11th, 2009 at 12:23 am
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