A Poem a Day (98): Quiet

Written for JD Mader's 2minutes go. 

Quiet

Here,

There are no words,

No interruptions;

Save for this stillness there is

Nothing but the muffled snore

Of a jet cat snoozing amid even steps

Of two hands, ever-counting ways to sneak

Around this quiet to chime a disturbance.

Humming, the squat fridge joins in, bringing

A rhythmic design to the evening.

Outside, garden voices scoop up in a swarm,

Bee-like, phrases mixing into white noise.

My pen top scrawls across the table to a stop

And I roll a blackberry idly, inhaling

Coffee’s sense of musty earth. This time is

Precious, still, and I am at rest, finally.

Upstairs spills the stagger of a distant cough,

Reminding me of the crowd I am

Escaping.

Copyright Vickie Johnstone, July 6, 2019