Buzzard, from Dog Ear series, Erica Baum, 2016.
Dear Reader,
Why, or how, are there voices in written words? I was reading an article, and I recognized the voice, or maybe style? It's not the one I hear in my head, it's not just the sound of my own lips moving. I was taught to read silently, and not to move my head across the page- why the fuck, anyway, I wonder?
I am moving my lips like mad these days, and yes, I am pretty sure it is The Texbook Indication of The Right On Time Signs Of Dementia*, but what matters now is that I even catch myself making sounds- I have been a talk to myselfer for as long as I can remember... and when my brain talks to me, it says things like: get a horse.
So, what gives a series of words, a sentence, a particular voice? And another thing, I know you don't need me to tell you what the genius of a song is; I know you have noticed it too; so why tell you? I guess because the verb to notice, the word notice as verb is a kind of affirmation; I sometimes worry I won't get it all noticed in time. In time, you know, to die. It's a kind of weird and personal form of reverence, but for me, just noting it isn't as good as writing it, too, and what about the voice of that written noticing? I wonder.
* The Signs of Dementia is a pretty good band name! "SoD" printed on the bass drum!
