noise

Sneakers slap cold pavement as cars rumble, spitting gasoline. Chatter slips from lips seeping sound into cell phones. Store doors snap shut as radios blare. Motorcycles click to ignition. Salvia soaked mouths furiously chomp mint gum. Sirens ring attracting everyone’s stare. Lone musicians pounds drums, their rough callused hands scraping the fine skin. Newly weds smooch smacking red lips. Girl’s hums quietly and touch hands in a game of Mary-Mack. Basketballs thump blacktop and bounce off a rusted blackboard. Old men bump elbows on parking meters. Squirrels get squashed by the thick tire of a Jeep as their bones crack, splicing inside. Fists punch steering wheels as horns beep. A paintbrush’s fine bristles coat color onto an old building. A plane roars. A dog barks. Cars slam. Over and over again it’s the sounds of life. So, just stop and listen…

They told me high shool was a place for all kinds of people. I didn't really believe them because isn't high school all cheerleaders and quarterbacks, skaters and preps?

I want
To close my door
And not have to hear
What they say.

I want
To plug my ears
And not scream at then
And tell them
That I’m here too.

I need
To just block out
This noise
This screaming.
But nothing works.

They wonder why
I am never there
Before them.
And why I refuse
To speak
Every night.

They wonder
What I do
Up there in my room
All the time.