Unspeakable Word

As it happens, today was the day I had my annual checkup at the VA. For me, it is the hardest thing about being a DAV.

24/7, 24/7, 24/7, 24...

An out of balance hammer
pounds in the middle kingdom of auditorium yammer
Tinnitus tingling without a single sound anywhere
No winning combination here or there

It rings like a diabolical plot against humanity
a Conspiracy Theory of insanity
Punishment in the here and now of my ear
For sins committed long before this new year

For being among the limerick readers who cheered
when the boy from Nantucket appeared
gave us a grin
Raised his “toast” to the great somethin’

(In a modern sense of an old fashioned word
Frozen on lips that cannot be heard)
A stern librarian from out of the guilt of our youth
Screams quiet! But it is only an unobtainable truth

“It’s all in your head
or under your bed,” she said,
calling back that first turn of the phrase
The euphemism that said no in so many ways,

figuratively portrayed as a sonic
wave that vibrates until it became a near chronic
hum that will ever remain unseen
to serve as a surrogate for the in-between