lifenoise

so these are the sounds we archive:
two fences and three houses away
a border collie howls for its pack
and you feel the keening the cruelty 
dogs are not built for solitary life and 
an average of three per career your union mate says,
train drivers see three jumpers
on average and you knew a woman once
at university she had three kids and threw
herself in front of a train metal crunching steel
momentum arrested in the air
desperation archived into ears

and we stand in the darkness screaming
arched backs and tilted skulls 
howling at dead stars or space junk or sulphur
all rhythm begins in the belly an exhausted rumble
because children/work/partners/capitalism
because a woman only has two arms
but labours as though she has eight
and the night running men
(yes, men because only men feel safe without light)
ignore the lifenoise, the life screeching-
it is no surprise that a woman can scream forever.