April 29, 2017

Poem

Sitting alone in my apartment

I can hear what’s happening through the walls

Neighbors play the piano, argue loudly over blaring televisions

I would be able to decipher the words

If it was amplified by at least 20x

There is a window in my apartment

That shows an alley where shit goes down

Christmas lights line a patio

And at night a black truck sits outside of my apartment

I wonder if someone is in it, or if is empty, just a parked truck

I see it many nights, it sitting alone, black against the glow of the night

The other night I saw the same truck from the window of the back door of the building

No one was in it, so I found peace of mind

That it wasn’t some crazy person waiting outside of my window

For me to climb outside, jump from the sixth floor

Just to be with him- the person I imagined it would be

A ghost in the night

Sometimes people pass through the alley, in cars, beeping to be safe

So that they don’t hit anyone

Sometimes people beep and I run to the window

To see what type of car it is, but often it’s too late

Headlights lead, tail lights follow

Sometimes people pass through it, walking

I don’t know who they are

But they know me as the crazy person watching them through a window

Anonymity is represented through the sixth floor

I see outside

And people see in

I see inside the night

And people see my face, framed by light, outside of solitude