Fred Aiken Writing

Category: Poetry

speak//listen

i can’t hear,
i can’t hear!

please speak up,
but not so loud,

let’s be civil,
let’s be servile,

but if all else fails,
let’s please not fight

stop watching so many documentaries

my wife told me to stop watching 
so many documentary movies,
but i told her i’m trying to learn something,
to which she called my bluff
by asking me what i had learned from the last
10 documentaries that i had watched,
to which i replied,
well, i dunno, i guess i would need to rewatch them

crawling, wriggling, words

words crawling about in the back,
like worms wriggling for freedom,
wondering what’s coming out,
what’s going to be said,
but it’s not always the right time to say it,
at least not yet,
put a lid on it,
and gulp down the words
until they are a secret