On Hearing for the First Time

‘It sounds very very high’

and she sobs for the joy of it,
for the reds and blues of it,
the shock, the hullabaloo,

the kerfuffle, the Sturm und Drang,
the sudden ice cream in a shake,
the sherbet firework burst.

‘It’s just amazing’ she cries
her face in her hands.
‘I’m going to say the months of the year’

and she hears them, shaking,
‘January February March’
April overwhelms her.

lt’s like never having seen a bird,
or the sea or the stars
never tasting an orange,

like living all your life in a cave
and coming out into the light,
the sun on your face.

Afterwards she walks by the Tyne,
daren’t go alone for fear
the birdsong, the traffic, the ship’s hooter

will be too much. They are not.
It’s like falling in love.