force(d) : when all else fails

scream as a whisper

i am tongues of dirt

your great-grandmother

carried under her nails

from vanishing parish halls

i tell jokes

to the last american

chestnut

it's not as funny

when you must explain

the punchline

i scream-sing

bob dylan tunes

in protest

deep in the rockies

my privilege is

a credit card

i don't know

it's balance

each transaction

is hope

i am your expectations

funny i don't look like

one

i am the dream

of translators signing

to the deaf

spelling their eight-

year old hearts out

i am hidden

in back rooms

ignored puzzle

piece that your are certain

belongs in another box

i am photographs

covered in mildew

evidence i've listened

to every damn thing

i am coded

unclocked, mixed,

passing, mostly though-

right?

untested in this

white

space

unplaced

only for echoes

to bother