night sounds, 6/06
– A rush of water through pipes.
– Bells, followed by train. Repeat.
– Wind, trees rustling.
– The occasional distant squeal of breaks.
– House guests in sleep loft; loft creaking slightly.
– Truck reversing, bleeping.
– Truck discharging air brakes.
– Desk chair.
– Humming electronics: Christmas lights, stereo, computer.
– Another reversing truck, still further away. .
– Car accelerating.
– Another car, with a squeaky frame, going by.
– A faint industrial stamping.
– Fingers on keyboard.
– Car being started, wheezing past.
– A chorus of idling motors (possibly imaginary).
– Something metallic, dragged for a moment on the asphalt.
– Something plastic, blown briefly down the sidewalk.
– Car horn, honked once, far away.
– Two other cars bellowing responses like foghorns.
Also, the cinnamon smell of the cake factory.
Windows permanently open for another NH summer.
While rocking my 2-year-old before bed she whispers, “Daddie?”
“Yeah”
“Birdies”
“No Honey, those are crickets.”
We hear an occasional car approaching from about 1/4 mile away, building, louder, until it passes and slowly dissipates.
Claustrophobic pollination offers zero freedom. Resolve fights oxygen. No rooms for elbows. No closets for thoughts. No cells for pontification. No lies, wormholes, bent nails, vertical planes of trickster dialogue. Beseeching solitude in mortal, pathetic brain vain. Dogs bark and sounds ricochet 45-60-90-180 degrees within similar clothing. Wrenching turmoil. Entropy. Sterility Syndrome. Arbitrary movement is foreign. Random piecemeal juggernauts are felonies. Breathe the sweat of yesterday’s mail.