Written in the ten minutes I had before physics class while I was waiting for the instructor to shoot off his home-grown tennis ball cannon. Inspired by Shirow Masamune’s Ghost in the Shell.
I thought I would pretend
that I was sympathetic
I thought it could be so new
So I thought what I’d do is
stare off into space.
Pretending that I was one of
those deaf-mutes.
I couldn’t hear you when
you called my name.
I couldn’t scream when
I saw you were in pain.
So I rose to my feet.
I shed my mask.
In my own voice,
I called your name
with one desperate hope
that you would find me.
But it was too late.
I saw his words when
I saw your face.
A softly whispered intonation.
A sense of foreboding…
“I thought what I’d do
was I’d pretend I was one of
those deaf-mutes.”
