A colony of terns concedes no paucity

of energy: the strident racket rising

in steep vociferous steps

envelopes your whole mind as if by sorcery. 

But one event might strike you as surprising:

now and then - untold by any augury

and with no cause - it stops.

 

A rigid talon grips the atmosphere 

and sound shuts down, as though there’s been a sudden

resetting of the wild.

And in that shock of silence, if you steer

your mind to depths that make land creatures shudder,

before the riot rekindles you may hear

the heartbeat of the world.