As a blind woman, I live most of my life by ear. While I have some usable vision, it is inconsistent and unreliable. The sounds of my world make more sense, giving clearer information. So building poetry from my personal soundscape is not a far stretch.
But for those who can readily see – or those who don’t attend to sounds – it may be challenging to find a way into the intense sound-work of poetry. “We’re losing our listening,” says sound expert Julian Treasure. Listening is not just about the physical ability to hear; it is the ability to make meaning from the sounds of our world. Sound shapes our health, productivity, and mood. In his brief TED Talk, Treasure shows the real ways sound affects us each day:
Treasure recommends that we listen to birdsong — a healing and reassuring sound.
Layers of sound
Sometimes having a framework or method for understanding sound can help people pay greater attention to what they are taking in. Birdsong has much to offer, but it is just one layer of the sounds we experience. Sound ecologist Bernie Krause describes three layers of sound:
- Geophony: the sounds made by geological forces (wind, water)
- Biophony: the sounds made by living creatures (birds, insects)
- Anthrophony: the sounds produced by humans (traffic, conversation)
Krause describes his work in soundscape ecology in his TED talk:
Krause is passionate about finding the unique sound signature of each place. No two forests or beaches sound the same. The final sound he offers the audience is a heartbreaking one.
“Open your imaginal ear.”
Writers must learn to listen with intention and parse the sounds they hear. Nathan Hassall invites us to listen beyond the literal sounds of water, wind, or birds. Hessel says we need to “open our imaginal ear” – to access our imagination and allow sounds to take on meaning.
This approach requires patience and humility. We need to recognize that the world hums along independent of our sounds and wait attentively for understanding. Listen with the intent to be amazed.
The more-than-human world holds many auditory miracles. Gordon Hempton, another sound ecologist, describes how old-growth forests transform birdsong. In his episode for the BirdNote podcast, Hempton explains that the trees act as a kind of amphitheater, sweetening the song of a Winter Wren. Listen to the audio and you’ll hear the gorgeous birdsong taking on a more resonant and melodious quality.
My tribute to Northern Cardinals
I love my local birds, so I worked hard to capture Northern Cardinals in my poem “Trading Threes,” which was featured on BirdNote. I felt so grounded in the center of these three bird voices. As you read or listen, I hope you will place yourself on the street with me.
Ready to listen, ready to write?
Make time to listen in a natural quiet space or a busy industrial one. You can sit in your own backyard or in a local coffeeshop. Practice listening to understand the sounds of your environment – the hum of the milk frother, the rustle of squirrels in your neighbor’s oak tree, the jingle of loose change, the shuffle of feet in sandals, the scrape of the recycling bin being dragged to the curb. After listening for 5-10 minutes, see if you can sort the sounds into Krause’s three layers: geophony, biophony, anthrophony. Then choose a layer to focus on for your writing project.
Paying attention is half the battle. People often ask if I have “super” hearing because I notice sounds that they don’t. I’m not a superhero. I just listen to understand. I listen because my life depends on it. You can attend just as diligently to your soundscape and build richer, more immersive poetry.
On the Blink 