I can't speak any more

End up having to simply communicate with signs.
Whoever first perused iconology
has led us down a terrible path ...

But how torrid, and obscene!

I don't hide from them, but they all
seem to hide from me.
I keep the chest open, lungs bursting away
hard at whatever important work

they seem to be doing.

Full industrial capacity,
parents snoring,
children working,

all eight hearts pulsating