seismic

her first tour with a band
electric guitars and bass
fully tricked-out drum kit
a quartet of dudes
who knew how to play them

and her

in the center
at the grand piano
her instrument and
her acoustic sole companion
on previous tours

everything plugged
and amplified
and i was glad this was not
one of those other tours

because of the infection
i couldn’t hear a note
but i could feel it
oh, could i feel it

the waves of sound
washing over us
from the piano
from the guitars
the percussive tremors
they caught me up

they pushed and shoved
as rowdy and rough
as a subway crowd
lifted me off my feet
and shook me
like a hail of bullets

and when she got up
to shake her own strong body
to the rhythm of the band
to shimmy and strut
in sync with that sonic gunfire
in sync with all of us
whirling and spinning
hair cascading out before her

when she and we
were swept up together
by the sounds i could not hear
for a moment
it was impossible
that there was anything
i was missing

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