The Sun Sound

When I was seven
I was convinced
I could hear the sun

A high pitched roar
Flailing the tall grass and
Rumbling the tops of the trees

You're big enough to walk now
But watch out for snakes
Around your feet

Nana said it was just the insects
Talking to each other
But she couldn’t hear a thing
It has to be the sun, I said
I only ever hear it in the daytime

Under the covers at night
I gazed at my astronomy book
That blazing giant and
All of its planets in a row
Pastel and smooth
A finger and a thumb between them

When I was seven
That snowball Pluto
Was still one of them

My science book says
Sound is the changes
That we feel inside us
In the air pressure pressed against us
The lilt in Nana's voice
Is a long summer's day

And she said it's just the insects
Talking to each other
But she couldn’t hear a thing
It has to be the sun, I said
I only ever hear it in the daytime

~ Brendan Bonsack 2024