Buzz for Silence by Jessica Osborne

Take silence, for example, as a symptom

Of absence, a constant

You won’t miss ‘til it’s gone.

Take the constant hum,

The gentle white noise of nature

And make it black.

Take the fragile trebling

Of song birds tweeting,

Absent now, and missing.

Take the deep gusts of wind,

Battling trees and mountains (all fallen)

To produce its tenor.

Take the first sound to go,

The steady ‘zzzzzz’

Of the humble bumble bee.

Take a hint.

Take action.