The Acoustic Architects

Each floor shimmers and shudders with passing footsteps.

The architect's skeleton speaks from an echo-chamber; 
a modified voice box planned with unscanned blue-prints 
photo-copied by a squad of deaf engineers.

Structures resonate as residents and tenants fray their tempers 
reacting with creative, energetic volumes 
to drown the monotony of unacceptable resonating sound sources.  

Coughing, swearing, shouting and bathroom habits 
become second nature to all living under that common roof.  

Foam and cavity insulation come too late 
as pets and their owners go through their many stages of depressions and nervous breakdowns.  

Radios and T.V. sets set off the whole neighborhood 
where one remote control 
can change all four channels or F.M. stations on neighboring appliances and hi-fi's.  

Accusations and contempt radiate through the paper-thin structure 
as a heavy gust of wind feels like a hurricane 
threatening to blow the place down like a pack of cards -- 
with the cheeky "Joker" staring you in the face 
as he is the last card to fall.  

The face of the urban planner has the last laugh 
as all the jokers celebrate with "bubbly" at a local district office party.  

No secrets can ever be kept as private business is made public.  
Every sound, speech and action comes through the ceiling and walls 
like travelling atoms and molecules.  

Love-making becomes a sinful paranoia.  

Laughter and celebration from next door 
are a joy for the lonely recluse living in a shoe-box; 
a sign of life and happiness from a past era of pure nostalgia.  

The match-stick and rice-paper houses rise and fall 
like failed soufflés in an oven of unsavoury planners 
feasting on the misfortunes of the less privileged.  

Military barracks would be far more comfortable and practical 
than the high-rise disasters of pigeon-holed urban accomodation 
where fissures and subsidance threaten the very nature of the place.  

These empty carcasses resonate with contempt and unacceptable consideration 
as victims despair in an endless struggle to imagine their lot or allotment 
as an attractive dwelling.