The Plain Man


he is silenced in a place
of long harshly hardened shadows
voices deathly echoes
here the bright blurring of wings rising
to a shrunken sky
go unnoticed
unheard
unsung
and his sun is just some distant unfulfilled wish
and the sound of rain is long forgotten
and the adobe walls of roses
crumble where the sun once rose
melted gold over their trellis tender petals
where roses once heard the stories of love 
love lost
love never 
found
and the women long for the roses of love alive
with morning dew
and the dust is heavy over every living thing
and the wind rattles in these helpless choking streets
and the mad walk in their broken stumbling circles
their mumbled prayers shouted out in vain to
a god drowned out by louder traffic
and their dogs at their feet bark
at the far off sound
of other
dogs


jppestana
the silent man
5.16.18