Testo di Stillborn

Midnight and Yoland has a long walk home Midwiving a hard labor the baby was stillborn Still the mother asks to hold the child that never cries Rocks it gently softly keening a plaintive lullabye Hush! Yolanda walks along the river road Humming softly "Were You There When They Crucified My Lord?" The sky has never shined so bright, the night so dry and clear Crickets and cicadas consolations in the air Yolanda's husband wakes the children and dresses them for school "Your mother was up late last night, I've packed your lunch for you" So the house lies silent and they all will be home soon By the time she rises in the early afternoon Then once again Yolanda walks along the river road Where the live oaks are dying, pines are crying, sits beneath a willow Prying from that tender trunk a dry cicada shell Crushes it in her fist as the sound begins to swell