What the Neon Didn’t Care to See
What the Neon Didn’t Care to See
Reno was all neon and indifference,
a city that blinks even when nothing is wrong.
The gunshot made a sound like a door closing on a life
that had not been properly introduced.
He fell the way a thought falls
when you decide not to finish it.
No choir, no cinematic slow motion—
just gravity doing its unpaid work.
His eyes were surprised, not afraid,
as if death were a wrong address
and he expected someone to apologize.
The street kept its schedule.
A bus hissed. Dice clattered somewhere indoors.
I learned then that dying is quiet,
and watching is louder than the act itself—
a ringing that stays after the noise has gone.
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This ekphrastic poem prompted by "Folsom Prison Blues," by Johnny Cash, wondering what he saw when he "shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die." Thanks to DVerse Poets Pub for the inspiration.
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I like that you focused on the crime, the death of an unnamed man, and imagined what was behind it, Chris. I love the description of Reno, ‘a city that blinks even when nothing is wrong’ and the line, ‘He fell the way a thought falls /when you decide not to finish it.’ These lines are deep:
ReplyDelete‘I learned then that dying is quiet,
and watching is louder than the act itself—
a ringing that stays after the noise has gone.’