Hissing

I never believed I heard the ocean

When I pressed a seashell against my ear

I knew it was something bigger

Not God exactly

Maybe me hearing the whole universe at once

The hoosh of galaxies scooping aside time as they spin

Flung particles of star stuff hissing against my inner ear

A friend suggested I was hearing myself in the shell

The rush of my own blood reflected back at me

Like a sound mirror

But how can that be?

How can I be louder than the universe?

Me

Soft and pale as bread dough

And quiet on the inside

A speck holding a seashell

-- Mitchell Hegman