The Listening Grains

Illustration by Douglas Balmain.

Echos have influenced the walls
the impression of their reverberations
worked into the timbers
archived in its fibers

Vibrations pulse
through the vacated room
the structure hums under the weight
of its burdened rigidity

The retelling finds new life
as the framework feeds back into itself
summoning spirits
recounting deeds

Cracks spider through the plaster
the frequencies meet
and waves deflect
from a pool of heightened disturbance

The vague image of a form
where the tones collide
screaming and bleeding into the walls
trapped in its records

Percussive cracks
drumming pops and blows
the smoke swirls and flows
absorbing and lifting

The spirit cradles the plume
riding out through the rough hewn trusses
released from the binds of the
listening grains.