It's absurd, this deafening ring, as if I'd put my ear by an air raid call, let the sound in, allowed the assault. The results are astoundingly inconsistent - deaf to the voice of my husband, overly sensitive to the wail of t.v. What was that you said, honey? Ouch. Please turn down the volume, switch on the subtitles. I'd rather read. One might accuse me of hearing selectively. I wish that were a possibility, allowing in only subtlety and sense, those things that delight, like good music, conversation, or poetry. Instead, this high-pitched drone on its own frequency, so loud I wonder how it stays in my head, barraging only me with distraction and irritability, hard pressed against my eardrum and humanity. Is this the way life will be? Wasn't it solitary enough just to be my own person? Tell me you hear it, too. Please don't leave me.
Posted in Katherine's Coffeehouse
