Strawberries of Speech by Ali Znaidi

Develop a nose for noise. That is, stop decoding and begin to get a

nose for the sheer noise of language…  Or stop listening and begin

 to hear…—S McCaffery

I am silenced again & to be

licensed infinitely     to speak again,

I compose a symphony of a liquid song

capable of resisting congealment and canning—

a liquid song never broken up by silence again.

From its ripples, so rich and large speech swells—

a song of freedom breaching the unbearable silence

because silence tastes like a rotten mustard.

The fluidity of freedom fears

nothing—a shield for the body’s and soul’s whim.

I license myself to speak—a terminal embrace of free speech,

despite any silencing power,

and to taste the strawberries of speech.

Though scissors are always there,

inside my mouth there is a tongue

a tongue a tongue

that makes me forget about annihilation.

A tongue that is ready to howl

“against the silences to come.”

[Against the Silences to Come is a poetry book written by Ron

Loewinsohn and published by Four Seasons Foundation in 1965.]

Written 03/02/2012