El Paso: The Tumblewords Project: Be Silent

White Sands National Monument, New Mexico. March 2010.

The rule at the Tumblewords Project is that if you write something, you've got to read it. No explanations, histories, excuses, or any other blablablahs before reading, with one exception. You can preface your reading with "this is shit." I always chuckle at this.

Here's a piece I wrote after a reading prompt on one Tumblewords day (with some editing):

Be Silent

As we dance, be silent please.
I don't know you,
I just dance with you.

If you talk, you may reveal things
I don't want to know and
Your unwelcome noise will
Scatter the waves between the music,
The singers' songs, and
The sway of our bodies,
The vibration in the air above us, and our
Touch, and yea, even the occasional
Lock of eyes between us.

Because you may say something
I don't want to hear about
Your neighbors or your exes or
"Those people,"
Whomever those people are to you,
Who you denigrate with your
Moral superiority.

I want to dance and
I want you to just keep your
Mouth shut (please) and
Let me fold into the silence of
Your reality to better imagine
Myself in the dream of
Dance and the union of
Souls and the sound of rhythms,
Like our ancient ancestors did before us,
As they swirled around the large
Fire
Beneath an inky sky freckled with the Milky Way.