You know, the church bells don’t sing here.

The cars pass by, the scooters and motorcycles whine

At times loud music stays long enough for a stop light

I hear youthful voices interacting in bubble-gum bursts

Males with raised voices gushing laughter at one another

The steady whir of the fan sets a background,

noise I don’t pay attention to for a while because

I’m listening to a spider win against the fly.