We lived happily during the war --
As soldiers march, Alfonso Covers the Boy's face with a newspaper --
Deafness, an insurgency, begins --
Alfonso stands answerable --
That map of bone and opened valves --
Townspeople circle the Boy's body --
Of Weddings before the war --
Before the war, we made a child --
As soldiers choke the stairwell --
While the child sleeps, Sonya undresses --
Above blue tin roofs, deafness --
City like a guillotine shivers on its way to the neck --
In the bright sleeve of the sky --
Townspeople watch them take Alfonso --
Such is the story made of stubbornness and a little air --
Townspeople speak of Galya on her green bicycle --
When Momma Galya first protested --
Galya whispers, as Anushka nuzzles --
And while puppeteers are arrested --
Soldiers don't like looking foolish --
Pursued by the men of Vasenka --
And yet, on some nights --