sounds in the silence #1
If niche has colour, it also has sound. Some of those sounds are soothing, the sound of a babbling brook, or the wind in the Red Pine. Some sounds are alarming, the cry of a child, or the squeal of brakes. At my office, there are multiple sounds in the background – people talking, computers whirring, copiers copying, printers printing. When there is a power outage, I am amazed at the silence of the building, and wonder how I can possibly work with all the noise.
When I can’t sleep, I turn to a trick my Mom taught me – I count the sounds in the sleeping house. Last week, a welcome sound was added to the usual repertoire, the three part hoot of a Great Horned Owl. Hoo-Hoo-Hoo Hoo-o Hoo-o. It was a gentle but penetrating sound and it ruled the night. The owl hooted three times at about five minute intervals and then I fell asleep.
Not long ago I went for a walk in the grey woods and heard a sound I have heard so often before, the grating squeal of two trees rubbing together. These trees, a Balsam Fir and a Grey Birch, have tried to grow into the same space and now they reproach one another in an endless competition.
the branches of one tree grate against the bark of the other
fear of heights
~
as dizzying to look up
in the forest
as down
into the abyss
the trees taper so
~
they lean
birch
against fir
rubbed raw
where branches touch
and reach for one another
~
and sudden, wrenching sounds
a branch swings back or breaks
loosened by a squirrel
or burdened where crows complain
~
or where a warbler scolds
teacher teacher teacher
~
© Jane Tims 1996
nichepoetryandprose 
Your poem hit it on the nail. It is exactly how you described while I walk in our woods here.
When there is a power outage, I am amazed at the silence of the building, and wonder how I can possibly work with all the noise. I find, that during power outages, sometimes the silence is louder than the background noise you become accustomed to.
-Denis
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JD
October 10, 2011 at 9:30 am
Hi. They used to have something called ‘white noise’ in office buildings so employees could work better. Jane
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jane tims
October 10, 2011 at 6:10 pm
“as dizzying to look up” I felt that sensation in New York City, standing on the street looking up at the skyscrapers – they seemed to be swaying and it made me very dizzy.
I like how you described ‘the grating squeal of two trees rubbing together, growing into the same space and reproaching one another in an endless competition.’
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Barbara Rodgers
October 3, 2011 at 5:03 pm
Hi. I appreciate the comment… it’s good to ‘see’ my words from another point of view. Jane
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jane tims
October 3, 2011 at 8:52 pm
I was just wondering to myself the other day…if Jane was going to write a new blog about butterflies (and covered bridges, to be honest). I had quite a few Monarchs? in my gardens last week. Now I wonder if they were Monarchs!
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bizm
October 2, 2011 at 4:15 pm
Hi. There’ll be more about butterflies in future. I was in Ontario this week and saw lots of Monarchs (which I can now identify) and yellow butterflies (next on my list to learn!) Stay tuned…. Jane
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jane tims
October 3, 2011 at 8:47 pm