Dead Air

these irritably critical conversations

are spreading me thin     like honey scraped

across burnt toast     and I am quite sure

that if I stood naked before your paper lantern

you could see straight through my skin

 

because too much talk reminds me

of being six years old at Huntington Beach

and pressing my hands to my ears each time

the lip of a wave rose up like a startled horse

and planted its wet hooves at my sinking feet

 

there are things to be said     questions

to be answered, explained, detained, drained

until our mouths are deserts on opposite continents,

but you can’t fit an entire ocean in a bottle

and even if you could, would it make more sense

than it does between the horizon and the shore?

 

the chatter on this station is turning to white noise

as we repeat, replay, rehash, reprise     everything

is a looping echo of what we already know

and I am ready to rotate our exhausted dial

until I hear the static sonority of dead air 

Reviews

[Tom]

Going round and around within never ending circles, indeed becomes irritatingly deja vu like ! Time for a break me thinks whether be it a job, relationship or just a change of scenery, it will do the power of good !!

A very creative write, the frustration and angst are supremely well portrayed in metaphorical terms !!

[Sarai Lee]

You have such depth and movement to your words. I love so many of your phrases and the image of a child standing on the beach covering up her ears because the waves are too noisy really resonated with me. I love how you parallel that with useless and critical conversatons. Well done!

I really enjoyed these lines:
"but you can't fit an entire ocean in a bottle
and even if you could, would it make more sense
than it does between the horizon and the shore?"

I love the honesty and wisdom in that. Again, well done!

[jacob erin-cilberto]

no kidding, Sarah....you are such an amazing writer..your images and metaphors are so fresh...you write with such maturity and vibrance...

i get jealous when i read many of the turns of phrase you use...

that white noise does just get to be clatter we want to tune out...dead air would be peaceful for a change.

[Ees]

The title attracted me. There is such tension and even excitement in the static of dead air. Dead air pulses. You were able to encase that tension in this . The words fly easily as they jump from scene to scene and the imagery changes quickly, but not too quickly, more like a loop inside your brain.
Nice work on this one.

[Blue Ivory]

Excellent opening stanza! I rarely review what I read these days, but I've only read the first stanza, and I so far, and I instantly know, I have to give you credit for such an excellent metaphor. I like how you switch to a flashback in the second stanza. This poem is like a wholesome balanced meal. It shows us many ways to approach the same topic. Great work!

[Shane William]

Great. It's a mystery to me how you come up with such brilliant and original metaphors. Seriously. And I can so very much relate to this. Enjoy the silence!

[Rafia ~ Yellow Girl]

Why do I always go to the scene you paint and cant find a way out of it , everytime ... ?
Enticing...!

[Joiedevivre]

whoa, excellent poem, conveys atmosphere and communicates on the subtler levels of mind. " you can't fit an entire ocean in a bottle", just magic!

[EmeraldCity]

I love this. I know exactly what you mean...