No Hay Banda (There is No Band)

Inspired by David Lynch’s “Mulholland Drive” – Club Silencio scene

“Watch out!”, I shout – as the deer leaps in front of the car –

we’re on a road that is near the Interstate (but local) –

We plunge head-on into the deer – I hear the thud – it’s loud –

and unforgettable –

“Stop”, I say! “Why?”, he asks –

“We hit a deer!” - I tell him –

…and he doesn’t seem to be understanding what I am saying

No hay banda – there is no band

I hear the sweet soothing sound of the trumpet –

and soon realize it’s pre-recorded and synthesized –

That’s okay –

It plays on the car radio – and I listen to it play…

it’s beautiful –

and it’s okay that it isn’t real – there is no trumpet

No hay banda – there is no band

“Didn’t you see the deer?”, I ask exasperated –

“There was no deer” –

“How do you explain the blood on the front of the vehicle?”, I ask

“There is no blood – I’ll clean it all up tomorrow” –

the trumpet plays and I can hear it’s sound (real or imagined) –

it plays gently to my ears (whether trumpet or synthesized)

A sudden clap of thunder – “It’s not real”, he tells me –

“What does that even mean?”, I ask –

“it’s not thunder – it is a keyboard stroke imitating thunder” –

I pause

“But, I heard it” – “You heard what you wanted to hear – what you thought you heard”, he says –

“what you’re comfortable in hearing” -

I’m confused -

and I think about us hitting the deer –

No hay banda – there is no band

“I don’t speak Spanish”, I tell him

“The deer was in your imagination”, he tells me –

and I know he is mistaken or wrong –

“there is no blood on my vehicle” he tells me –

(and I think he has cleaned it off)

And my memory conjures thoughts of the deer leaping out in front of the car -

directly in front of us – we hit the deer

No hay banda – there is no band

In his vehicle – he is driving – we come across a stop sign –

In the middle of nowhere -

and he stops – a clarinet plays for us gently and smoothly

through the car speakers and I cannot tell if it is a real clarinet -

A triangle joins the symphony – and I hear it – but he doesn’t

– we continue through the deserted intersection –

as I listen to this symphony that may or may not be real

When there is no band – there is no conductor –

when there is no band – there is no meaning or understanding –

it’s an illusion

“Watch out!”, I shout, as the deer jumps in front of the car –

and there is no deer

…or perhaps there is

Photo: Jimmy Broccoli.