NIGHT ORCHESTRA
Deep in summer
stillness, an electric
hum of air conditioner
in B flat flat monotone
entrains my body
monotonous.
Heat produced to cool
my neighbours thrums
the outside air, heats
up our collective night.
Mechanical multitudes
self-replicate in chorus,
relentless fridge and clock.
The only spell breaker
is a tape of Tibetan chant.
Deep harmonic overtones
conjure a resonance,
disturb the sine waves.
Sleepless in the Beaches,
I resist the single sound
as Blake deplores single
vision and Newton’s sleep.
The sound of the perpetual
twentieth century
colonizing our future
with a dominant beat, sales
pitched for comfort, con-
venience, reliance on
appliance.
The pity is not
that the century
is winding to a close but
that it’s whining
on and on
Somewhere beyond
the pervasive rattle,
waves break on the shore.
Species diversify.
Penn Kemp 