Cricket

Gets quiet

The moment

I interrupt his song

He’s been working on

For years

Or days

Lost sleep over

The arabesques and triplets

The dotted-eighths and coda couplets

-Silence-

Maybe he’s embarrassed

Maybe it’s not finished yet

I walked in on him

In deep rehearsal

Something so personal

A journey of his own

Self discovery

Melodically

And I

thump-thump-thump

Giant rhythmic distraction

Took him away from

The immediacy of his expression

His pavement flat

One-inch-tall symposium

His absolutely rapt

moment

of transcendentalism

My approach

Will still his tongue

My departure

and he starts up his song

Picking up where he left off

finishing after I’m completely gone

July 13, 2022