Noise in the City

NOISE IN THE CITY

(If with the rush in city we grow tire,
then hush and lush in county we desire.)

i left Silence in my room
and stepped out the mean street
where a cacophony of Noise
pierce my ears like a rain of arrows
hitting my eardrums, bulls eye.

the big city is a lair of Noise –

horns that blare scare like thorns;
screams of kids (and skids of tires-swerve)
tire your nerve and try your verve;
blasts of jeepney’s stereo stir you ‘til knees blush;
beggars yowl and howl over garbage haul;
street hawkers hail and wail, yell like hell (‘sell anything’);
shrieking rugby-boys brawl and bawl (over nothing)…

yes, endless, sleepless and restless Noise
mocks and massacres innocent citizens.

this villain robs peace, kills stillness;
slaughters Silence; but remains free, at-large,
uncontrolled, unpunished, preying on more victims.

where is the police force
that will arrest this criminal?
put this perpetrator behind bars!

(but hush, are we not guilty of
harboring this criminal?)

– between noise and silence is the ear.

(c) 2001 Chito L. Aguilar