99poems/escape

I cannot escape
this silence
that makes me think
I’ve disappeared.
I read and make
orange juice,
fresh-squeezed
from our trees,
behind closed shades,
and cannot rouse
myself to imagine
I am part of it
– what lies out there.

I turn inward
on cloudy days
and sometimes
cannot turn back
in time,
to hear the helicopter
overhead,
the kettle on the stove,
the sound of your voice
on the phone,
calling me at lunch
to say hello.

5/3/99