Backgrounded

The exact words spoken
that evening are unclear
all these years later

but there was something 
in how you sounded —
that memory has developed

a sheen for me
Like remembered bells of
A carillon in France

Or my ears thrumming
while leaving an arena
after an outstanding concert

So indistinct yet certain
It underpins all speech
and most music now 

I cannot imagine living
without love there, backgrounded
in every moment always

until it is muted 
by my own ending
Not even then perhaps

Perhaps it has existed
throughout the whole moment
of earth’s long endurance

Perhaps it will last
beyond the last moment
of earth’s long existence

Still singing for us
when no one’s left
to hear that sound