The drummer forces a potent mixture
of excitement and anger into the inanimate skins
that sit disjointed on the floor.

I hear the slight echo-
echo- echo- of a building synthesizer,

and then the bass awakens
with a triplet howl.
The snare shouts back
its war-cry.

The rhythm moves faster--

quarter,
quarter, dotted-
quarter, eighth--

and a pickslide
births an unheard song.