“I have a notion that, at big fires, a moment of extreme suspense can sometimes occur, when the jets of water slacken off, the firemen no longer climb, no one moves a muscle. Without a sound, a high black wall of masonry cants over up above, the fire blazing behind it, and, without a sound, leans, about to topple. Everyone stands waiting, shoulders tensed, faces drawn in around their eyes, for the terrible crash. That is how the silence is here.”

“The walls are cracked and water runs upon them within threads without sound, black and glistening as blood.”

“turns me on so loud it's like no sound, everybody yelling at me hands over their ears from behind a glass wall, faces working around in talk circles but no sound from the mouths. my sound soaks up all other sound.”

“I danced. I danced without music. I screamed without sound. I celebrated in silence, in the dark, behind the curtains where no one could see.”

“They sat quietly, shoulder to shoulder, listening to the sound of nothing. Nothing can sound very loud sometimes, louder than noise, even louder than a jumbo jet passing overheard.”

“I suppose like othersI have come through fire and sword,love gone wrong,head-on crashes, drunk at sea,and I have listened to the simple sound of water runningin tubsand wished to drown”