February 2, 2023 - “When it’s this quiet, I wonder where I am” by Elizabeth Lerman

When it’s this quiet, I wonder where I am. It feels impossible, almost, that there is no other sound, no voices, no music from next door, and I can’t help thinking, when I’m out here alone, if there is something I’m missing — a reason people have tucked themselves away, like the cold, or the time, and disorientation drips during these hours, when I am wide awake with all the suspicious silence, but then, after a long while, a few streets and a world away, a car honks, a dog barks and life slowly starts to sound the same again.