by William Zong.
Art by Hanzen Shou
Issue: Nostos (Winter 2019)
one : length adagio. eye. out. eye. out. wake. child. wake. now. [ rest. hide. sleep. waft. jeans. dove. leave. light. lamp. sand. still. shop. ] rise. rush. quilted. quaint. orchestra. polish. children. [polish.] too. [polish.] to. publish. come to. come too. come through. intermission : clatter. a fury of lurching trombones. a shriek. furioso. a. long. ringing. silence. industry. con moto. [ a rhythmic throbbing. glass. a violin out of tune. a string snaps. due. [a rhythmic throbbing.] a troop of young children enter. laughing. the children exit. applause. two : feast rubato. some. times. [ silence. as. punctuation. period. comma. and. per. se. and. how. do. you. do? how. do. I. do? do. I. do. you. do. we? [ do. we? do. we? tears. ] there. is. refuge. in. silence. undoubtedly. senza. fuoco. / ruckus. cacophony. ,even the word is music, can you hear it? piece. peace. of. mind. [ your. / my. ] spoken storms. delightful. ] intermission : breath in. [ breath out. dolce. ] glasses of champagne clicked twice. one. shatter. pill. rush. two actors enter. they kiss. knife. glint. a melodramatic. fall. an actor exits.] jumbled. speech. and. voices. [an actor exits.] no. applause. three : drift lento e espressivo. just. another. day. back on. the couch. back in. the daze. one. for the passing night. and two. for the room. I walk. in circles. best tie. my shoes. [ summer. dream. please. affettuoso. I sit close. to you. and the flowers. and. paint. and. meditate on it. ] my. mind. my. echo. free. falling. grounded. complete. intermission : pink. yellow. yawn. three ornate pillows. tassel. piano. piano. a child enters to carefully stack the pillows. one on top of the other. one on top of the others. the child exits.] loop in. level up. the child returns with a sledgehammer. feather. forte. [ static drone. ] waiting. watching. [the child exits.] [ static drone. ] four : steady restart. revisit. retain. you and I have heard. it before and it is true. semplicemente. ,an eye for an eye. and a tear for a smile, but what is when comma comes coma. but what is when habit comes chore. ,an arm for an arm. and a tear now for a smile. restart, you and I have heard. it before and it is true. and we are but. incomplete. restart. revist. retain. incomplete. [ until I can. until then. ] intermission : poco a poco. doing. little by little. working. [ in. / a. ] ,re,spiration. respite. in. spite. freedom calls. my name. ,be,comes. a terrible noise. utter. panic. accelerando. speak. [ quiet now. comes like rains to storms. ] done. done. done. done. done. end. start. five : charm andante. [ spreading warmth. turn. set. turn. draw. click. click. click. crescendo. whim. and. wonder. blue. stack. red. card. click. click. click. click. lure me. second. bursting joy. ] repeat. always. wel,l,come. play. golden. hours. pass. like blinks. [ ] run. seven. done. calando. intermission : eleven months later. cue singer. grave. not. get. not. yet. safe. from death. a monk enters. balloons bellow. cue the violins and violas. con anima. we gave you life. we gave you birth. too slow. [ to quick. combustion. motor. a chainsaw fells a tree. four and thirty three. ] the monk exits. pin. scatter. six : strife salto e allegro. no toast. but toast to me. please. I ,and you too, like to feel. appreciated. at breakfast. ruckus. cacophony. ,except this time it is no music, can you hear it? [,en, light. ,e, ning.] con amore. I. know. I. know. you. ,no, ,no, ,no, and a. [,en, light ,e, ning] flash. all the rain starts to pour. finally. intermission : brillantemente. spotlight. wire. [ triangle. triangle. triangle. [ evening. ] a ballerina. enters. half-asleep. she lays down. bucket. dishes and apron. mop. [triangle. triangle. triangle.] risoluto. poker. watch. check. a thousand reams of paper burn. the ballerina exits. [ daybreak. ] [triangle. triangle. triangle.] and again. seven : hereafter good. or. what. you know there are so. many things in life that can change. [ come. ] you. and you can change life too. and quiet now. listen. [ to me. / to yourself. ] inside. take this. adagio. my friend. listen to me. to you. it happens now. or rather. it has happened now. ,and what am I now, listen. life changes. blink. and. gone. [ home. ] fin.
