Wings

Listen I say there are birds.

Birds in our sky today. And

C is eight and he is standing

In the middle of a day with

Grass that stretches out all

Around him. Like water. Or

How he is holding his iPad

In his left hand. And it hangs

Down. Against his thigh. And

He is looking up. Where he

Scans the trees and sky or

When he finds it. C points.

And says bird.

His hands are flying up now.

Lifting it up. The iPad up to

His chest. Tapping it with a

Finger to start. And a woman.

Her voice comes out. Talking

About sound or how it travels.

How a sound is made

When molecules in the air move

In waves. And when she says it.

Says the words longitudinal wave.

This is when C starts.

Starts to make the sound. A loud

And repetitive uhh uhh uhh uhh.

Because it is the sound he makes

When he knows all the words by

Heart. But cannot say them. Yet

And each uhh stands for one. For

One syllable. Or how C says each uhh

In time. At the same time as her words.

The woman whose voice comes out of

His iPad. How they both pause

For a beat. When she says rarefaction.

Before starting. Starting again.

And rarefaction is the opposite

Of compression. How it is what

Happens when air molecules

Stretch out and have space.

The space to expand. And

I watch C.

Watch him as he does this.

Makes this sound. How he

Looks up and out at the sky.

And his eyes are wide and

Listening. Or how. When.

He does this in public. Makes the

Sound. Over and over and over

Again. How people stare.

But this. This is ours.

Our backyard. Where

He is among the song

Birds and safe. And I lay down.

Lay down on the grass.

Next to him. Next to where he

Is standing. Close my eyes and

Listen to him.

Let the sound of them. The words

He cannot say yet.

Let them fall all over me

Like wings.