Poem: “Word Cage” (2020)

You thought you knew it all, so you clung to the name.
You thought you knew it all, so you clung to the name.
You thought you knew it all, so you clung to the name.
Now you’re trapped in your word cage.

Are you listening for the sounds that don’t fit your scheme?
Are you listening for the pleas that undercut your dream?
You thought you knew it all, so you clung to the name.
Now you’re locked away in your word cage.

When a syllable varies, do you cut it away?
Do you take hold of the tongue and beat it into place?
You thought you knew it all, so you clung to the name.
Now your children are dying in your word cage.

Published as lyrics for Matthew S. Rosin’s Singing Is Contagious EP, 2020.

Singing Is Contagious EP – release on Dec. 4

Matthew S. Rosin, Singing Is Contagious EP, 2020.
Matthew S. Rosin, Singing Is Contagious EP, 2020.

My new EP, Singing Is Contagious, releases on December 4! The EP will available digitally from me on Bandcamp and for streaming and digital download from all the usual services.

From the press sheet:

Matthew S. Rosin releases his first new collection of music in six years, a searing fusion of modern progressive, post-punk, and ambient drone.

Driven by Rosin’s disarming poetry and sung and spoken-word vocals, Singing Is Contagious is a visceral plea for honoring our common humanity and learning from one another, beyond the received ideas and prejudices that alienate and wound us.

Recorded mostly during the COVID-19 pandemic, Singing Is Contagious is released digitally via Rosin’s Meristem Music.