"Drum Solo" by Erica Goss

Drum Solo

You feel as if you’d stumbled across
a skeleton & just realized that the body
pared down is an alien grinning white
structure without which you, human being,
would be helpless—see now, how the
drummer reminds us all as the rest
of the band stands silent, instruments
idle, eyes cast down as if at a funeral
while cymbals clash, the bass drum
booms inside your chest. With every
thump you feel earthquakes, boulders,
avalanches lay the land bare, leaving
just the bones & rocks naked & shining
in the sun. See how the guitarist puts
her hand over the strings to silence them,
the keyboardist covers his keys,
the fiddle player chins & unchins
his violin and taps the bow, a little
nervous as we wait for the drummer
to come back from digging holes
in dark matter, to lay down the
rhythm so we can rebuild our lives
so we can breath, so soil can collect
over the boulders & green things
can grow again.

Erica Goss

Erica Goss is the author of Night Court. Her flash essay, "Just a Big Cat," was one of Creative Nonfiction's top-read stories for 2021. Recent and upcoming publications include The Georgia Review, Oregon Humanities, Creative Nonfiction, Redactions, and Consequence. Erica lives in Eugene, Oregon, and edits the newsletter, Sticks & Stones.

Headshot: Sree Sripathy

Photo Credit: Staff