babel

catch snippets in the confusion
a pummeling of pointy words
playing over the feedback
of a thousand lies spewed from
a mouth of crooked teeth
dancing around sounds framed by lips
that once were used for kissing
dismissing her with cliches
that she cannot hear as sirens ring
in her ears, the tinnitus of grief
and car horns, subway rumbles
and passersby; the death rattle
boosts the babel of a city summer day
and i see her tears and look away
ashamed for intruding
in the park bench drama
whispered frantically
beside me
as i stare at a jumble of words
on the page and try not to
remember