The Sounds of Things

To be a poet one has to be curious about many things. One of my greatest curiosities is about sounds. I have an innate fascination about an innumerable host of them which I make myself. What sound does a piece of wood, or a metal box, or a even a pumpkin, evoke when knocked upon with my middle knuckle. I perform this simple curious practice constantly. I love the sound of the ring produced when I flip the edge of a piece of crystal with my index fingernail. That is music to my ears!

Ever noticed the difference in the sounds store plate glass windows have when knocked upon? And then there are the sounds of nature, like the wind blowing through the leaves on trees, and the eternal roar of ocean waves crashing on the shore, or fog horns on a mist drenched night! And the eerie screeching of an owl unexpectedly penetrating the quietness of a summer evening. Not to mention the loud rumblings of thunder following the sizzling crackle of lightening.

I would love to have heard the sounds of a mighty rushing wind on the day of Pentecost. And how I

read with wonder in Ezekiel's prophecy about the voice of the God of Israel having the sound of many waters, and how His accompanying glory made the earth shine.(Ezekiel 43:2) The Psalmist says that "The Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, than the mighty waves of the sea." (Ps. 94:4) When the Apostle John described the Lord Jesus Christ in Revelation 1:15, he said His voice was "as the sound of many waters." Wow, what must that have sounded like! John later heard a voice from Heaven, "like the voice of many waters, and like thunder. And I heard harpists playing their harps." (14:20) Finally, (19:6) he heard, "as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, 'Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns!' "

The poet's ear, the poet's eye, is always open to what ever there is to hear and see in God's creation, both "under the sun" and even perhaps in the spiritual realm. His heart is attuned to things that others never perceive. His is the task of making others aware of things they are not normally in the habit of observing.

The Poet's Heart

Does the poet dare to think

He is the only one

Who has ever seen the rising

Or the setting of the sun?

Thinks he that his eye's the only

One that's been set free

To behold and true decipher

Nature's imagery?

Yes, of course he is convinced,

And truly stands apart...

For many have the eyes to see

But few the poet's heart!