Noises of the city

After Psalm 122

It is the silence I hear first,

but soon the noises overcome,

the bleating and lowing

of the animals.

Drawing closer, it is the sounds

I hear next, the sounds

of laughter and argument and 

rejoicing and singing and

prayer, the words spilling

from reservoirs and fountains.

It is the clicking of my feet

in shoes I hear next, the sounds

of hard leather 

clicking in the cobbles,

adding to the music.

Photograph by Hanny Naibaho via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Noise

After Hebrews 12:1-3

It’s the noise I’m most

conscious of, the noise

of voices, thousands,

murmurs becoming shouts

as the starting gun is fired,

as we begin the run

my throat feels the cinders

of the track, dry and sharp,

my legs move, a motion

both visible and not,

a motion of muscles

and bone flowing

with the motion of the heart

and soul, moving together,

a torrent of silence crashing

against the noise, the murmurs,

the shouts as we run.

Photograph by Rostislav Kralik via Public Domain Pictures. Used with permission.