When the World Stops Spinning Keep Tooting That Horn

Ashley Ellen Goetz

When the day ends and no one comes out to play
When the sun sets and gets too lazy to rise again
When the trees get selfish and hold their breath
When the sun extinguishes its last fiery breath
When only your fire twinkles from dark embers
When it feels like there’s no one out there but you and your thoughts
Keep tooting that horn.

When all the cats raise their tails
When mufflers leave you in smoke
When smiles and hellos seem pocketed or scarce
When the dawn turns its back on you
When the rain has its day
When clouds hang like tattered drapes
Keep tooting that horn.

When your shadow no longer recognizes you
When you slip between the building alleys
When you disappear to yourself, hiding in mirrors
When the dream becomes your reality
When the water fills every gap, each lung, sealing out air
When the ground pours down on you from above
Keep tooting that horn.

Seal your self in that moment, that horn bawk, sent through sound waves, spreading in bows, in circles, across time, through a wrinkle in the weave of space fabric, and stay there, in your sound capsule, seal this memory, this instant where you keep tooting that horn and never stop.