Leon Trainor: Loud as You Like

Loud as You Like

Council inspector said it:

Talk about tired, been up all night

spotlighting; couple on a block

complained about a barking dog,

loud one too, you wouldn’t credit

stuff we get. No dog for miles,

neighbours didn’t have one. I guessed

soon as I heard how loud it was.

Never saw it, though.

Goes to show,

not even a particle;

that’s what happens in a world

without definite articles.

Same bloke told me: Wagonga wharf,

anyone camped near it would hear

a rackety creak and clink

like a winch, all night long, dragging

a phantom ferry, years after

it had been scrapped and its gear,

motor and chain all sold off.

Same as before, and it’s one thing

to know what’s there, try to convince

anyone else once they’ve heard

what they think it is. Extra noise

will only help reinforce

what’s not there. And it won’t stop, since

nobody told the lyre birds.

Leon Trainor