bells kaput

bells kaput
and ring and knell with
silences that swell
and fly to fill the air

you know so well,
what else that air could
hold

and why

so let these bells
unring themselves
malfunctionally
in silences

each time you strike,
with hammer hard,
they clear the air

for miles around
of any sound,

and you know why
you stay on guard
against alarm.

Unclang, unrung,
your heart in throat
at every strike,

you save from harm
all those whose wrong
cries out to skies.

And stand in light,
unjustified. And so
do they, for bells untold

like hearts unwrung,

have never lied.