The Shape of the Shell

Cindy Cox, The Shape of the Shell (2010) for audio tape
text by John Campion
bass clarinet/voice by Laura Carmichael

My daughter brought a shell and bade me put my ear to it:
—That’s the sound of the ocean, I said.
—Is the ocean inside of it, she asked?
—The shape of the shell causes the sound, I said.
—Then the ocean is the shaper of things, said Sophia. You throw a stick out into the water and it comes back looking like a fish.