february
this shirt
with blood
on the
cuffs
the sun
just
because it’s there
just
because it sounds like
the voice
of god when i close my eyes
sounds
like snow falling into
the open
hands of the blind
and so
we’re standing at the edge of
the forest
when the first
plane is
spotted
i’m trying
to remember my
father’s
face
when the
north tower falls
am sitting
in a shadowed room
in someone
else’s house
and the
windows streaked with dust
the
television filled with static
and i
remember her telling me her name
but can’t
think of what it is
i
understand the need for silence
can drown
as well as the
next man
White Noise -- Simone Decker
White Noise -- Simone Decker
An FM radio tuned to an unused frequency produces a buzzing sound ("static") called "white noise;" a television tuned to such a frequency leads to the same noise accompanied by rapidly moving black and white rectangles that fill the screen. These are common examples of "white noise," a random signal with a constant power spectral density or a statistical model for signals and signal sources rather than to any specific signal. Even a binary signal which can only take on the values 1 or -1 will be white if the sequence is statistically uncorrelated. The term is sometimes used in non-technical contexts in the metaphoric sense of "random talk without meaningful content." The term is analogous to white light, though light that appears white generally does not have a flat spectral power density over the visible band. White noise is commonly used in the production of electronic music, usually either directly or as an input for a filter to create other types of noise signal. It is used extensively in audio synthesis, typically to recreate percussive instruments such as cymbals or snare drums which have high noise content in their frequency domain. The samples of a white noise signal may be sequential in time or arranged along one or more spatial dimensions. In digital image processing, the pixels of a white noise image are typically arranged in a rectangular grid and are assumed to be independent random variables with uniform probability distribution over some interval. Pink noise, which has equal energy in each octave, is used for testing transducers such as loudspeakers and microphones. To set up the equalization for a concert or other performance, a short burst of white or pink noise is sent through the PA system and monitored from various points in the venue so the engineer can tell if the acoustics of the building naturally boost or cut any frequencies and can then adjust the overall equalization to ensure a balanced mix.
ReplyDeleteOn 11 September 2001, two commercial airlines that had been highjacked by al-Quaida terrorists crashed into the twin North and South towers of the World Trade Center in New York. Within an hour and 42 minutes, both 110-story towers collapsed, with debris and fires causing partial or complete collapse of all other buildings in the complex and significant damage to 10 other large structures. The attacks killed 2,996 people and injured 6,000 others and caused at least $10 billion in property and infrastructure damage and $3 trillion in total costs, closing financial markets until September 17 and American and Canadian civilian airspace until September 13. The United States responded by launching a "War on Terror" and invading Afghanistan to depose the Taliban, who had been harboring al-Qaeda, and then invaded Iraq, which was incorrectly linked to the planning of the attack; these are the two longest wars in American history. The trauma continued to affect victims and witnesses long afterwards, certainly beyond the following February.
ReplyDeleteGreat poem! Love it.
ReplyDelete