Finding Peace

Twenty years in apartments
Doors slam open and shut
Footsteps clomping upstairs and down
Day and night
Live on the top floor but still get blasted
Surround-sound booms from below
Subwoofer so loud Acoma pottery
Swims across the coffee table
Screaming children—learning from
Screaming parents, who yell ugliness
A smoke alarm goes off, someone letting
A pot boil dry again
Must get out

And now, in this house, so big
On a busy road but the noise
Disappears in the back of the house
Night and day
Look outside, trees and wildlife
Hold your breath: no sound but
The tick of the clock
The patter of my cats’ claws
The sound of my own heartbeat
A fox meanders through the yard
Deer eat the neighbor’s tomato plants
A breath out is more than air
It’s relief

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Gerri Leen

Gerri Leen lives in Northern Virginia and originally hails from Seattle. In addition to being an avid reader, she's passionate about horse racing, tea, ASMR vids, and creating weird one-pan meals. She has work appearing in Nature, Galaxy's Edge, Deep Magic, Escape Pod, Daily Science Fiction, Cast of Wonders, and others. She's edited several anthologies for independent presses, is finishing some longer projects, and is a member of SFWA and HWA. See more at gerrileen.com.

Latest posts by Gerri Leen (see all)

• Finding Peace - 16th June 2021