If I Could - Armando Garcia-Davila

[Larry Robinson]

If I Could

If only for a moment
I would silence the world’s motors
and the roar of the airplane would not be so much as a hum
and the thunder of the locomotive would become less than a moan

No blaring horn
no screeching brakes
 no screaming police sirens would come from the avenue

The din of industry would cease
and the factory would fall into a coma
the miracles of the dawn and the dusk
would reclaim their sacred stillness

Children would play a game of statues
the wino realizing the gift of his existence would leave his bottle corked

The right would swing to the left, and the left would not know where to turn
Politician would be left without plots to hatch
and the devil would run out of tricks

Shouts would turn to whispers
whispers to prayers
and prayers to meditation
chicks, in their nests, would sleep

And in every canton and hamlet
in every town and city
one would only hear the rhythmic breathing

of deep slumber and the throbbing of their own heart
and the only sounds interrupting this immense meditation
would be the wisps of butterfly wings
and a prayerful chant
quietly echoing throughout the land

“Love.”	“Love.”	“Love.”

	- Armando Garcia-Davila