As you hear the dawn song of birds and frogs
Listen for the night song of thrumming bass and sirens
The wail of the grieving, the roar of the flames
As you hear the snap of a twig and
The rustle of leaves on an evening walk
Listen for the stutter of gunfire in the streets
As you hear your playlist pouring from your earbuds
Listen for the chants calling for Justice and
The endless names of the murdered
As you hear the gurgle of a stream, an infant’s babble
Listen for the teargas gags of crowds on the march
The gasps of hypoxics dying alone in tents and ICUs
As you hear the shattering glass in the city
The diseased systems collapsing onto themselves
Listen for your heart breaking open, letting in what is true
As you hear rain hit the Earth, the splash in your sink
Listen for the trickle of blood on the pavement
The silence of an absent pulse
~Andrine de la Rocha
Shavuot 5780
May 30, 2020
