Monday, September 29, 2014

Richard Schiffman: "Before Language"


Brian Buckner Photography: Children & Young People in Recreation &emdash; Silhouette Of A Splashing Child Playing In A Fountain of Water, Shreveport, Louisiana

Up from the fountain
the babble of children,
drenched with surprise. Alive!
The rain of their syllables
does not strain to speech,
their glottal whoops and yells
never jell to full-fledged
words or phrases.
Parents hover bird-like
by their brood. Parents fan
and fan their little flames.
And I, alone, the childless one,
sit purposeless, yet not in vain.
Before language was, the rain.
Children’s voices pouring
from the sky. I close my eyes
and let it wash my dust.




"Before Language" by Richard Schiffman. Published in Sunstone Magazine (December 2012). Presented here by poet submission. © Richard Schiffman.

Art credit: "Silhouette Of A Splashing Child Playing In A Fountain of Water, Shreveport, Louisiana," photograph by Brian Buckner.


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