cicada and frog song.
4-wheelers idling at 4 A.M.
the hum of the AC unit outside the master bedroom.
planes flying low.
branches swaying so hard you're sure they'll break and put dents in your bomb shelter.
cows screaming, voices breaking. where are their sons, their daughters?
laughter that echoes off the bluffs.
the howls of dogs that are better off untamed.
church bells that could very well be tornado sirens.
crunching gravel.
lawnmower engines before the incoming storm.
chatter that's blunt and familial all at once.
and in the midst of this, dead silence.
