WHERE THERE'S A WALL
where there's a wall
there's a way
around, over, or through
there's a gate
maybe a ladder
a door
a sentinel who
sometimes sleeps
there are secret passwords
you can overhear
there are methods of torture
for extracting clues
to maps of underground passageways
there are zepplins
helicopters, rockets, bombs
bettering rams
armies with trumpets
whose all at once blast
shatters the foundations
where there's a wall
there are words
to whisper by a loose brick
wailing prayers to utter
special codes to tap
birds to carry messages
taped to their feet
there are letters to be written
novels even
on this side of the wall
I am standing staring at the top
lost in the clouds
I hear every sound you make
but cannot see you
I incline in the wrong direction
a voice cries faint as in a dream
from the belly
of the wall
Copyright © 1985 Joy Kogawa. All rights reserved.
there's a way
around, over, or through
there's a gate
maybe a ladder
a door
a sentinel who
sometimes sleeps
there are secret passwords
you can overhear
there are methods of torture
for extracting clues
to maps of underground passageways
there are zepplins
helicopters, rockets, bombs
bettering rams
armies with trumpets
whose all at once blast
shatters the foundations
where there's a wall
there are words
to whisper by a loose brick
wailing prayers to utter
special codes to tap
birds to carry messages
taped to their feet
there are letters to be written
novels even
on this side of the wall
I am standing staring at the top
lost in the clouds
I hear every sound you make
but cannot see you
I incline in the wrong direction
a voice cries faint as in a dream
from the belly
of the wall
Copyright © 1985 Joy Kogawa. All rights reserved.