The explosion of fireworks on July 4^th

Made my ears clog

Sparkling rockets

Brought pain

As though the noise

Was grinding into my drums

No toleration for snap guns

Bang, Bang caused

Knocking on my heart

The last musical I saw

In 1966 before we moved to Los Angeles

Superman

Brought grief

I couldn’t appreciate the brass

Frights carried to adulthood

Covering my ears

At the scene of the movie guns

Or off or on-stage revolver

In The Seagull

It wasn’t until I was diagnosed

With hearing loss

At age 45

The audiologist explained

Why loud noises ate

My earlobes

The explosion of fireworks on July 4^th

Made my ears clog

Sparkling rockets

Brought pain

As though the noise

Was grinding into my drums

No toleration for snap guns

Bang, Bang caused

Knocking on my heart

The last musical I saw

In 1966 before we moved to Los Angeles

Superman

Brought grief

I couldn’t appreciate the brass

Frights carried to adulthood

Covering my ears

At the scene of the movie guns

Or off or on-stage revolver

In The Seagull

It wasn’t until I was diagnosed

With hearing loss

At age 45

The audiologist explained

Why loud noises ate

My earlobes