They Say

with Reka Jellema

The skirl of bagpipe
the fife of piccolo
anything to still
this prattle --
nursery rhymes,
ditties, doo-dahs, loony tunes
twined, transposed and snarled

there is trouble in mind
her head on the railway
his esophagus grappled
with the belt loop in the closet
a bare light bulb one tug away
from the dark

They say the rats never left
the Piper has them safe, quiet
biding time
while punctual trains
and ritual neatness of streets
grow like Labelled clothes
like snaking moss on alabaster nudes

They say Humpty Dumpty never fell
a modern Astaire,
lissome and el-
egant with piano hands
his wall con-
stant as a Shakespearean couplet --
townsfolk wiped yolk
from the pages of storybooks, made mosaics
from eggshells, grew quiet
at the songs of bright birds

A piccolo enough
to quiet trouble in mind
they say
air strained
through tiny architectures
Do re mi yes no
Melody skipping
The needles repeat

Do re mi
Piccolo

Written with Reka Jellema