wildscape. literary journal

SYNTAX
by Ian Parker

hush / like drifting snow or susurrous waves
she explains her recent diagnosis

and she punctuates it with a lingering so
trailing off / air dying / uncertain soothsayer

an ellipsis meant to mean
you talk now so I can take a breath

I make a rash joke, joshing her about
moving her things into the hospital

where will her clothing hang in a shared room?
what photos will she bring and does she
need help in finding a mover? will an ambulance
double? when are visiting hours?

but really, I’m afraid I’ll lose her syntax
the synecdoche of her vocabulary
the weight of her nouns and verbs
and remember I failed music theory
and linguistics the same semester
that tone is indistinguishable from voice
and that’s the real punchline

about the author // Ian Parker