When the Waves Came Over Us

When all the words
had been spoken —
and spoken
over and over —

it rained for forty days
and forty nights,
and then the rain
did not abate,

the downfall,
and words were spoken
without being heard,
and silence was banished

from the world.
Still it rained:
the world was awash
and tears mingled in the rain,

and cries and screams
were not heard,
and we turned away
from each other,

blindness fell upon us,
and still we spoke,
but only to ourselves,
what we could remember

of prayers and incantations.
We spoke and we waited,
but there was no Ark
to gather us,

no dove
with an olive branch,
and the waves came over us
until all fell silent.