17 Years

With Science/Violence flashing
From the art museum’s roof
Generals Lee & Stonewall Jackson,
Bronzed & bearded, rode aloof
Bird-spattered, peering skyward
I was looking up as well
At the trembling of the branches
Overhead in Wyman Dell
(Heard in Wyman Dell)

& if 17 years more is not enough
To get my act together
How long will it take to call my bluff
Or let the change in weather
Settle underground
& summon up the sound
No one escapes from if they stay around
For 17 years more

Having fled from my first marriage
& some love affairs gone wrong
I was thinking of the Towers
& a Robyn Hitchcock song
Leaves were sweeping down the sidewalk
Was it leaves? I stopped to look
Veined & quivering, they rattled
Red-eyed, staring back, they shook
(& staring up, they shook)

& if 17 years more is not enough
To let them go on singing
Till they drop from trees or scuttle off
Another stray cat’s plaything
Spinning on the ground
Vibrating with the sound
We won’t escape from if we stay around
For 17 years more

& our history keeps passing while they creep
Huddled by the roots of trees & burrowed deep
Unhurried, safely buried with no promises to keep

Now I’m living in a rowhouse
With a wife I don’t deserve
Waiting for the incarnation
Sure to rattle every nerve
They won’t need broadband to reach us
At the climax of their drone
Calling out across the treetops
To a world they’ve made their home
(A world they’ve made their own)

Who knows if there’ll be a next time
After 17 more years
Will the statues scorned & toppled
Stay down, buried with our fears
Will our consciousness continue
Everlasting in the cloud
Even there, we’ll hear that humming
High & punishingly loud
(Pummelingly loud)

Well, it’s 17 years more, I’ve had enough
I’m ready for their droning
The only thing they’re looking for is love
No chance of our postponing
When they succeed at last
Is it over fast?
Leave now & maybe we’ll escape the past
For 17 years more

& if 17 years more is not enough
To get our act together
How long will it take to call our bluff
Whether, when, whatever
Emerging from the ground
Converging with a sound
That drowns the world out & they’ll stick around
For 17 years more
& 17 years more...

17 years more is not enough...