Country Sounds

Rooster crowing. Dog’s hoarse bark. Laughter from my neighbor’s porch. I am glad to hear Vi. She has dementia. Laughs only on sunny days. I love her laugh. Sun so brilliant and clean, she hurts my eyes. I stare into her, looking for an errant eclipse. A blowing, howling fading sound. It is the roosters. Dog’s barking sounds like honking now. TV noises coming from my husband’s office. Loud cough bark now. Different dog? Rapid succession of hoarse cough barks. Country noises comfort me. Ambulance siren. I follow it to the freeway. Seventy or Thirty-five, unsure. A chirp. Cheep. Twit. Twit. Cheep. Cheep. Abbreviated cluck. I know we do not have chickens here. Not sure what bird it is Angry sound ow Huck Huck Huck Huck another bird. Rumbling of jet fills my ears. Roosters will not be outdone. They are wailing now. A new sound for them.