Hearing

There is the sound and there is
      perception of the sound.
What matters more—
      that which happens
or that which hardens
      into memory? Consider
how the crush of a train
      is louder in fog,
how a song becomes
      the place and time
in which it’s heard, how the cries
      of babies are unbearable.
Consider how the beloved’s
      breathing is distinguishable
from all others, but
      how his footstep’s approach
may as well be
      his footstep’s receding.