There is noise and there are sounds

Like when a stone plops in water, an old tree creaks, a chime tinkles long after the breeze has gone- the memory of a breeze in sound, the crunch of dry leaves underfoot, the muffled thud of my tiredness sinking into my pillow, a distant tune drifts in through sheer curtains and open window, the end of applause-the sound of rain, the sound of rain of course, round drops of full laughter,

clinked glasses, a sharp knife dices a potato on a wooden board, tonic poured in gin- the rhythm of an evening, a cabbie hums to the radio, cricket chorus, frog symphony, bird solo, the squish of pulp, a cat purrs just for me, ball-hits-bat-hits-ball,

a super controlled small sneeze ‘itchkoo’, emptying ‘trash’ on my laptop, the rustle of silk, sea water around my ankles in sizzling froth, mustard seeds splutter curry leaves crackle in hot oil, when Mario wins a mushroom, his footsteps at the door, class 4B sings “nine nines are eighty one”, cartoon sounds read in your mind- ‘boing’ ‘splat’ ‘kapow’, the whole sea swirling in a sea shell, coins in a pocket, pages fluttering,

the still slice of a kite’s wing, the words ‘sluice’ ‘pitter’ ‘patter’ and ‘pickle’, someone old sings a song from when they were young, aunties laugh in unison, acrylic nails on a phone, the clack of heels on a wooden floor, the sad beauty of bitter laughter,

beep-boop-beep dial-up Internet, toasts pop, a river hugs a rock, an apology, watermelon seeds hit the bottom of a green bowl- the sound of a hot summer in ’98, a tea cup falls and you hear it break before it hits the ground.