Walking Poetry

David Snyder WALKING

when it’s hot I feel like the only person crawling between each building a blue light marks safety, a man says speak English, three Nepali students ask me where to go to eat something from home waits to swallow memory I want to ask when the earth moved and their city collapsed another student confesses he can’t remember my name traumatic brain injury I write down instructions to find the maximum value of a function a calculation of memory I’m not scared of much he says only deterioration. I have To keep busy. When I’m alone here In the lab every computer hums at a barely audible frequency