The Sound of Slipping Away

"Do you hear the sound?"

It starts out softly
Barely registering to the ear
More sense than sound
Like the beating of butterfly wings
Whisper quiet as they lift
Hear it, a feather louder now
Audible in sense and sound
The humming beat as it rises
Like bird taking wing
Calm rustling alights to your ear
Louder, clearer, farther from you
Like a breeze stripping, moving the leaves from trees
Causing a shiver to your bones
With a start your ear latches on
A stillness falls over you
As the thump rises to your ear again
Thumping that you can feel in your soul
A piece of that soul has taken flight
Like that bird on the wing
Carrying the piece faster and farther from you
Grasping and gasping trying to hold on
Not accepting that it is already gone
A new sound arises to your ear
The quite sob of your soul at its loss