Close your eyes . . .

Listen . . .Listen. ..

Words have meaning
Sounds have meaning

The best poets tell us this. The very best do it in only a few words and evoke meaning by evoking sounds, without ever actually making sound.

Close your eyes . .
Let your ears listen. . .
Let your minds hear . . .

jumping rope
the little girl and her shadow
touch touch touch touch touch

still in the taste
of afternoon tea . . .
my grandmother's brogue

firecrackers,
the old soldier's fingers
tighten on his crutch

Silent Night
the singing hands
of the deaf child

Slowly come back now and tell me what you heard in your mind as you listened to these poems.

Let's focus on two:

still in the taste
of afternoon tea . .. .
my grandmother's brogue

How can you taste an accent? But through experience, you can! Jerk chicken sounds like my Aunt Dolly from Jamaica you know, and Chinese apple pie is my Uncle's voice.

Silent Night
the singing hands
of the deaf child

Christmas? Silent night? Christian? North American, European? What if you didn't know that song? Didn't have the context of Christmas? What would the hands sing?