on whistling

“Discourse on virtue and they pass by in droves. Whistle and dance the shimmy, and you've got an audience.” -Diogenes

there are those of us that whistle---

we do so by forming our lips as if we

all spoke french for a day,

blowing air out into the world,

somehow singing a non-verbal tune in the process---

we pick whatever tunes we like and we

hum them, in

whistle form,

when we awake, while we walk, when we work, when we

play & sometimes when we are feeling

most silly, excited & dare one even say

gleeful---

some of us whistle inward,

that is,

we suck air into ourselves and somehow find a way to

manufacture tones in the

process---

there are less of us who whistle this way, i believe,

as the cartoon impression of the whistler & its

adult contemporary image is always one of the

outwardly

melodic

blower---

regardless of the way in which you whistle,

whether you use your tongue & your lips together,

your teeth, your hands craftily maneuvered in such a way as to

funnel out your best personal horn section,

resonate with helmholtz as a human who

translates the song of others into your

own,

filtering them out into the air for others to catch like

butterflies,

so that they may flutter within,

before being released out into the wild

again.