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Grumbling

Grumbling toward enlightenment,

there is movement in this whine;

it is not as loud as yesterday,

not screeching down my spine.

I’m making room for silence,

for the buzzing flies to still

but they make insistent music

on my nearby windowsill.

They are trapped and hot and bothered

and they want the nerve to fly,

but although the door is open

they can’t seem to find the sky.

Swatting doesn’t kill them,

it just makes them mad as hell;

feeding them just seems to be

a useless plan as well.

But sometimes they are quiet

as I breathe and don’t complain,

and their iridescent wings provide

monotonous refrain.

Grumbling toward enlightenment,

there is solace in this pain,

there is quiet from the might-have-been,

and moisture in the rain.

Published inPoems