The Sound of One Hand Clapping


The Sound of One Hand Clapping



The sound of one hand clapping is the sound of …

The big bang five trillion big bangs ago,

The moment just before a sneeze,

The other hand clapping,

A dust ball swirling,

An atom splitting,

A minnow winking,

A wave’s furthest reach,

The wiggle of a loose tooth,

Dust settling upon a dewdrop,

The moment before a door slams,

Wind wafting along the edge of a rock,

Time changing on the face of a digital clock,

A water balloon bursting through a chain link fence,

The brush of a butterfly’s wing upon the surface of the moon,

A paper plane gliding through the stillness of a room,

The ground falling toward a descending plane,

Sunlight reflecting off a beetle’s back,

A wheel bouncing above the road,

A mosquito’s needle piercing,

A gnat flapping one wing,

The space between the eyes,

A crippled cockroach dancing,

A tear tugged downward by gravity,

A spit wad just before smacking its target,

Angels dancing madly on the proverbial pinhead.

The pause between breaths, the breath between pauses.



Breadcrumbs 2015