Today’s prompt was to write a poem which used sounds to create atmosphere, after Robert Hillyer’s poem Fog.

Scratching steps on loose gravel, the rhythmic snap

of stone on stone.  A blackcap sings, bleep bleep bleep

like an arcade game. It feels quiet here but it isn’t. 

The wind breathes through the wheat stalks

and a tractor hums. 

The clank of a chain.  Groan of metal on metal.

Growl of an engine.

Behind the bigger hush is an orchestra of human

sounds.  The road isn’t far away and the

rumble never quite disappears.  A crow’s squawk slices

through the quiet.  A dog barks.  Feet on stone and

the tap-tap-tap of a woodpecker.

Squeaking of gears.  Dripping water.

Thunder. 

The path changes to dirt. The ground feels hollow here.

Birdsong quietens.  A small plane crosses the sky. 

My footsteps echo as I pass beneath the headgear.

In the distance a man is watching.