Communication Breakdown
by MJ Gette
our heaven
-ly body
whose axis
is the telephone
in town
weakens
when the line
breaks down &
all the talking
turns to this—
when can we
sing
along with
the rest
of the world
again—
& have means
to follow
the revolution
around the Word
love
the rain
so you are
never
maddened
by the silence
of the sun
the voice
of yr cherished
whispers
into the receiver
beyond
the line
of the people
whose voices
are drowned out
in static while
they wait to
wrestle it for
a chance
to connect
to Him while
water
ebbs out
the sphere
of influence
on the rest
of us—
MJ Gette is currently living in Guatemala, where she writes for an NGO. Her work has appeared in Red Weather, Northern Eclecta, Lovechild and ditch. She won the 2008 Red Weather Poetry Prize. One of her poems was selected to be interpreted sculpturally throughout a semester-long Architecture course. She has self-published two books of poetry and a novella, as well as a book of photos and narratives of Guatemalan Ancianos (elderly). MJ Gette is online at MJGette.com.
