Do you remember

when time stopped?

We were sitting on a bench

in that hotel

watching the people

and went into

unmediated

telepathic

brain to brain.

communication.

There was a lot to say

as usual but it would have required

expelling air through the glottis

creating a

drop in  pressure

across the larynx

sufficient to reach  the

threshold necessary for

for the vocal folds to oscillate

and who needed all that

when it was so perfect

being there

wordlessly

timelessly

together

until one of us

I think it was me

got hungry

or afraid

and broke the spell.

though we couldn’t have stayed

much longer.

Embodiment has its price

and would have sent the bill.

 

 

c. Edward Levy, 2019

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The phonatory process, or voicing, occurs when air is expelled from the lungs through the glottis, creating a pressure drop across the larynx. When this drop becomes sufficiently large, the vocal folds start to oscillate. The minimum pressure drop required to achieve phonation is called the phonation threshold pressure,[1][2] and for humans with normal vocal folds, it is approximately 2–3 cm H2O.