Cento (collage poem)
Source Text: The Sense of Wonder by Rachel Carson

the game is to listen
becoming receptive to what lies around you
sound that is felt almost more than heard
the fairy chiming comes
tiny wisps of sound
so ethereal, so delicate, so otherworldly

in the dawn chorus one hears the throb of life itself
the voices of living things
rhythmic and insistent
so fresh and alive
the sound of the insect orchestra
the wild medley of voices
the repeated refrains of nature

a monotonous night chant
swells and throbs night after night
from darkness to darkness
the chorus picks up volume
listen to the wind
the song of the wind
the insistent wind
it blows with majestic voice
a many-voiced chorus

the majestic sound of thunder, the winds,
the sound of surf or flowing streams
the vast roaring ocean
a fierce rhythm
recognition of something
beyond the boundaries of human existence
where great and elemental things prevailed