One Poem by Edward Lee

 

Bones Speaking with Hard Tongues

Last night I heard

my bones whispering

to each other

in a language I couldn't understand

or even identify,

hard sounds colliding

like stone against stone.

I realized too

that this was not the first time

I had heard them,

all previous whispering

categorized by my brain

as the mutterings

of my own mind,

my thought-processes

with no off-switch,

not even when sleep beckoned

to the point of necessity.

Some nights I would fear

my chemically unbalanced brain

was mutating its depression

into some blunter madness.

But no, it has only ever been

my bones speaking

with their hard tongues,

whispering about things

I might never know.

My bones whispering incessantly,

keeping me awake.

I wish I could either decipher

their colliding words

or they would cease

for a night or three.

Whichever is easier

for them, either works

for me, truly, either

works for me.

Edward Lee's poetry, short stories, non-fiction and photography have been published in magazines in Ireland, England, and America, including The Stinging Fly, Skylight 47, Acumen, The Blue Nib, and Poetry Wales.  His play, "Wall", received a rehearsed reading as part of Druid Theatre's Druid Debuts 2020.  He also makes musical noise under the names of Ayahuasca Collective, Orson Carroll, Lego Figures Fighting, and Pale Blond Bov.  His blog/website can be found at https://edwardmlee.wordpress.com