How do you spell that sound?

Cover of A Poetry Handbook

Is it hot out this week, or what? I wrote another poem for my poetry class and was thinking I’d have to hang on to it for a few months since it has a summery feel to it. But with this weather, I’m thinking, “Why not share it now?”

I got the idea for this poem one morning while out on my morning walk. Our reading for the week, from Mary Oliver‘s A Poetry Handbook, was focused on sound. So, I was trying to decide how to start writing a sound poem.

While mulling this over, I began to think about the challenge of spelling out sounds without using the same old boring cliches. You know, “Boom!” “POW!” “THWACK!” That kind of thing.

So, I started to really pay attention to the various sounds around me and tried to image how I would spell them — without using the standard spellings. This was the result:

How Do You Spell That Sound?

How do you spell the sound
of fireworks
booming in the sky?
POOM, THWIFF, Crackle, Shhhheeeeeee.
That’s how I’d spell that sound.

How do you spell the sound
of dog tags
Tinkling as a puppy pounces?
Jingle, Tingle, tinkle, tee.
That’s how I’d spell that sound.

How do you spell the sound
of a flag
whipping at its post?
Twick, thack, pick, ack.
That’s how I’d spell that sound.

How do you spell the sound
of warm wind
murmuring through high leaves?
Whisper, wasper, fuss, shush
That’s how I’d spell that sound.

How do you spell the sound
of seed pods
pinched between two fingers?
Crick, splinter, crackle, spack.
That’s how I’d spell that sound.

How do you spell the sound
of clouds
scudding ‘cross the sky?
Or of whispy dandelions
floating by…

Sssshhh.
Can you hear it?
How would you spell that sound?

~By Amanda L. Webster

Related articles

• Purchase Mary Oliver’s A Poetry Handbook today!
• Compose a poem from book titles (guardian.co.uk)
• “Mysteries, Yes” by Mary Oliver (annanajuice.wordpress.com)
• Poem – I hear the sound (blackswanpoetry.wordpress.com)
• Glossolalia and the Sound Poem (soundandinteraction.wordpress.com)