"The sounds in and of themselves were less like the sounds of anyone" by Martha Ronk

"The sounds in and of themselves were less like
the sounds of anyone"


Walking the stone path in the dark I had to keep
my eyes fixed for if I lifted them
to see where I was going all was a dense black
whereas if I looked down, the reflection off the gravel
made it possible to hear the sounds my feet made
as I made my way slowly toward a fixed point of light
I could not yet make out the night was so dense.
The sound of the bird seemed broken.
I little knew what to expect.
The time had been set, but given the unpredictable nature
of the principal parts of the story,
the sounds in and of themselves
were less like the sounds of anyone walking
than of noise at an open door,
the bird signaling what never would be.


Source of the text - Martha Ronk, Vertigo.  Minneapolis: Coffee House Press, 2007, p. 19.

Bourguignomicon: Intense visuality gives way to and enhances intense aurality in this vivid moment of trying-to-see-in-darkness, suggesting a larger story.