The Sound of Water
Sometimes before drifting
off to sleep
I hear the bells
of a railway crossing
and then realise
it’s the effervescence
of a glass of sparkling water
on my bedside table.
Tonight I put down
my whisky on ice
while reading
and a few moments later
am distracted
by the creaking of ice cubes
making a sucking sound
as though it were drinking itself.
So that’s where it goes.
I wake up at 5 am
pour a glass of water
and listen to light rain
on the galvanised iron roof.
I’m inside the glass.
off to sleep
I hear the bells
of a railway crossing
and then realise
it’s the effervescence
of a glass of sparkling water
on my bedside table.
Tonight I put down
my whisky on ice
while reading
and a few moments later
am distracted
by the creaking of ice cubes
making a sucking sound
as though it were drinking itself.
So that’s where it goes.
I wake up at 5 am
pour a glass of water
and listen to light rain
on the galvanised iron roof.
I’m inside the glass.
Steve Brock’s poetry collections include Live at Mr Jake’s (Wakefield Press, 2020) and Double Glaze (Five Islands Press, 2013). He is the co-translator from Spanish to English of the anthologies Desarraigo: 18 Poetas Transfronterizos (Nautilus Ediciones, 2021) and Poetry of the Earth: Mapuche Trilingual Anthology (Interactive Press, 2014).