Legacy Poem by Claude H Oliver II

The growl of jet engines
The grinding bark of trucks
The thundering rumble of trains
The whining of sirens
The ever-present sound of earphones
The drone of televisions
The insistent beeping of appliances
Crying for servicing
That we hear each other is miraculous
Our children hear this same cacophony
Do the sounds drown us out?
Do they ever hear the solace of quietude
The beating of their own hearts
The chirping of birds
The buzzing of insects or
The sound of their own breathing?
What quiet do we give our children
What soothing calm for sleep
What music soft as mother's breast
What source of peaceful dreams?
Do they learn not to hear themselves?



July 27,2012