Their happiness carries through the plaster and lathe
Swerving between the particles that stand between me and my happiness
But somehow missing me
I hear their content
It bears down on me constantly
It would be easier to bear if everyone did
I hear their peace
I hunger for it
Wanting it to fill my cupboard and my belly
I hear their love
Echoing around in my empty apartment
Bouncing joyfully off the walls
Teasing my loneliness
Beckoning it and then running away gleefully
I hear their certainty
Wondering if any of it truly exists
Wondering at my need for it
Wondering if religion could fill my desire
I hear their footsteps
Hollow and reverberating relentlessly in my head
Rattling around in my skull
Bouncing joyfully off the walls
I hear their water running
Wasting away beneath them.
