Listen to the world’s best poetry read out loud.

If propelled forwards,
its power to bridge
the gap between us
might strike you
as unusual.

If so, let it
erase your memory
of my hard-shelled silence,
of the words
I’ve left dangling
in mid-air.

Let it do anything
you ask of it –
walk the dog,
play handcuffs,
lie patiently on its back,
not a ripple of despair.

Unlike me,
you’ll find you can
tug its heart-strings,
can make it trip
head-over-heels
for your charms.

But remember,
it can turn too,
whirling through space
towards you like
an off-the-cuff comment,
a clenched fist,
a bullet.