Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
Anh DangJuly 06, 2017
Andrew Neel via Unsplash

I hear popping
in my right ear again.
It happens every time I chew
and it annoys me so
to the point where
I have a hard time
breaking things down
enough to swallow.

Yes, I have choked
now and then
because the popping is beginning
to sound more like guns
and my ears like
to pretend to implode.
So my jaws have rested
and the throat that carries my voice
proceeds.

And when I’m in the car–
just the car, which is odd–
I can hear the popping
fire in tune to a Mozart symphony.

But if I close
my slumberous eyes
and tilt my head so the
seatbelt strap caresses my face
with my left ear eavesdropping on Da Nang…
I swear the car goes backwards.

And the popping stops.

I have a hard time
breaking things down
enough to swallow.

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.

The latest from america

Pope Leo XIV denounced the “violent conflict [that] seems to be raging in the Christian East with a diabolical intensity previously unknown” and said the Christians of the West must do more to help the Christians of the East, especially those suffering in Ukraine, Gaza and other places in the
Gerard O’ConnellJune 26, 2025
A Homily for the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles, by Father Terrance Klein
Terrance KleinJune 25, 2025
The example of Blessed Floribert Bwana Chui shows us how to live for Christ: by dedicating ourselves to prayer, the poor and peace.
Pietro BartoliJune 25, 2025
The six-day certification course aims to teach ‘how to honor deserving candidates and expedite their path to sainthood in the Vatican,’ according to the center’s website.