Photography © Edward S. Gault

 

Bats Taste the World

The cathedral walls talk back,
so does the silence between mountains,

or the branch barely swinging in the breeze
as they sweep the sky between shade and light,

rushing by in their quiet flight.
Mouths agape in constant chatter with life,

their clicks and squawks and chirps unheard
by humans or even their prey.

Deaf bats bump into things.
Mute bats bump into things.

When purposely impaired, these flying megaphones
don’t hear the echo of their shouts and get lost in midair.

Like that night, remember, when you thought it funny
to blindfold me to life so I couldn’t see your voice in tears.

To train me in the art of forgiveness, you said,
you drove off and left me stranded on a side road.

 

Zoé Robles grew up in Puerto Rico. Her work has been published in various magazines and journals. She currently lives in Los Alamos, NM where both the beautiful sky and the high altitude can easily leave her breathless.

Edward S. Gault is a poet and fine art photographer. He lives at Mosaic Commons, a co-housing community in Berlin, Ma. He has a wife Karen, and daughter.