Musa Tone

Nanny & Grandad

had this old wireless radio

they never turned on, 

when I was young 

I’d try to twist the dials 

way beyond the AM

listening carefully for distant voices,

potential morse code 

or messages from future civilisations

but as hard as I tried 

I was only ever met with static silence,

the dead air between the here and now,

a buzzing like the electrons of my hair

seconds before the lightning flashes

and the thunderclaps,

like 1 am when the television signal

ceases to be and I’m sitting alone

listening to the “MUSA” tone

staring at the Test Card F,

I sometimes wonder if that old radio

has been turned on yet

because I could never find the switch