This morning

I was on a crowded bus this morning, and I became aware of different sounds. There were four:

• On my right, someone’s iPod playing a jazz tune. Muted trumpet.
• On my left, a man next to me was reading a book in Arabic, possibly the Koran. He was murmuring slightly while reading.
• Two students were talking quietly in front of me, laughing.
• Behind me, the sound of the bus’s engine.

Conversation, music, religion, machines. I listened to the mix of sounds all around me, and it sounded like the world.