William Cordova: Machu Picchu after Dark

By | 1 March 2017
Already more sounds in the world              than we can hear more frequencies

more attack more positive feedback more hammer and stirrup              and so for all the senses’ potential

to stifle scent and crowd the optic nerve              so here we go into the future with nothing you made

and nothing you thought you could catch              no LED no registration no dials

unmarked polyphony of radii              boxed up              for future radio 
                                                              
                                                              *

no one listens to reason alone                            it gets lost in the middle

the top of the woofer                   the background voice demands

the planetary holes in cones in holes                            as if you could talk back to geysers

repurpose the steam                   the scavenged and the holes in walls the heaps

or spread the bottom-heavy music for                   the shipping containers that turn the globe around

                                                              *

so put up your pinna your needles and hear              take notes

how much do the later nations              diverge              which are yours

the tenements tarps compartments the fake wood              the polymer the corrugated tin

vibrating sympathetically                            piling on

or holding everything in                            keeping up their own time

                                                              *

but the voice of the crowds		isn’t yours

it repeats		it’s rude                 it steps all over itself

it blows its top		“it zigs and zags”	corrodes

or stands up		rickety		        mortarless		it depends

on who has been able to stack		how long can they stay

                                                              *

so turn away              go back to fixing                            what you can fix

as for the unassigned styles              the extra amplitudes              the corners out of sight

what are they blaring or blending              what              crescendo or coda or catenary tone

what do they make              to cut              or amplify

the systems                            absent wires              present words




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