Month of Poetry, 2014, Day 7: The Only Way to Be Alone

The Only Way to Be Alone

In a house of five people
     ––seven stringed instruments (two electric), upright grand piano,
         full drum kit, and a trumpet––
         (whose stupid idea was the open-concept floor plan?)

Is to set the alarm early
     ––5:30 gets you a half-hour before coffee-grinding, an hour before
        get-ready-for-school protests––
         (5:00 is far too early)

Wrap up in an afghan
     ––hot cup of chai, laptop screen dimmed, brain fuzzed in sleepy
         dreamland––
         (eastern sky just starting to glow)

Thirty minutes of head space
     ––pen an essay, write a review, revise a short story, just sit
         and listen to the silence––
         (it's all that you'll get)