One ear
        With music.
Pumping loud
Pumping deafeningly so
Pumping like a siren's call
        to another world
        to escape
        to the untouchable.

One ear
        To reality.
For the cries of nature
For the sobbing of the engine
For the whirling streets
        at the broken
        at the rich begging
        at the poor, swallowing
               rainwater like
               a 

libation.

With one ear,
I run. 
I run i run i run
I run up to the moon
      Like the astronaut gone mad
I run to anywhere
      Like the nomad now lost
I run with relentless fervor
      Like the poet without a pen.

With one ear,
I listen.
I listen i listen i listen
I listen to the streets
         Like a person dreaming
I listen to the wheels of the bus
         Like a kid on the M7
I listen to my mother breathe
         Like a child who can only
                Fear

The worst.