Sounds

Something switched on in the silence of the night
Perhaps a cliché from the afternoon’s echo

or the wired radio of the old woman
who lives above the trees that once lived
in the garden

Something clicked and startled the ear of the wall
A faint shiver of plaster

Something hummed and broke the lamp
The yellow light seemed to hear, but paid no heed,
because it had already passed

The sound came again, grew louder and went down
It choked and licked its lips, gurgled, sighed and went on

Something went still, but the way the quiet sometimes promises
a sound...

Something dripped on the sill, something ticked nearby, very near,
but you didn’t catch what, because you were reading and did not stop to listen

2007