Voices

They are NOT voices,

  although the speaking never stops::

    I do NOT hear them but

     phrases ricochet inside my skull:

       fragments of thoughts;

         half-forgotten lyrics;

           half-remembered insults;

             the spirit of the staircase 

               in a shot-glass

                 stolen from a sleazy bar.

                   They are not voices,

                      but I cannot hear myself

                        over the hubbub,

                           though I really try.