My life lacks quiet.
That does not mean it is busy or that my social
calendar is full, it means it is too noisy.
I sit here in front of this screen past 10:00pm
on a Tuesday night and the sounds are plentiful
even though my window is closed.
I hear cars and buses on the street.
I hear people talking as they walk by.
I hear and feel the subway underneath me.
I hear the people in the apartment above walking around.
I hear the outside door open and close.
I really hear the garbage trucks emptying the recycle bins.
During my commute, the bus and subways announce every stop.
I hear people talking to each other.
Talking and/or yelling on their cell phones.
Teenage girls saying "like" every second or third word.
Teenage boys swearing every second or third word.
Women kissing their teeth.
Men clearing their throats.
The thumpa thumpa coming out of the ear buds
of people who feel the need to listen to their ipods way too loud.
And the worst, on too often an occasion, the sound of someone clipping their
finger nails, or snapping gum in their mouths...yes....on the bus.
As I walk home from the subway station, I hear
impatient people beeping their car horns.
Taxi's giving a "beep" to catch the attention of the folks
waiting for the bus, hoping that their impatience will get them to hail
the cab rather than wait one more minute.
I need quiet.
I feel like my head will explode if I can't get some peace.
I don't have a room, a quiet corner in the basement,
or anywhere to go where there isn't some noise.
I'm trying to find a quiet place.
A church?
Certainly not the library.
That's anything but quiet these days.
What I picture in my mind, a perfect quiet place is
an abandoned train caboose in the middle of a field
in the middle of nowhere.
I feel like the Grinch when he says,
"Noise, noise, noise..."
Until I can find a truly quiet place that
I can just sit an be,
I'll have to settle for dunking my head underwater
in the tub for 30 second intervals.
