The Silence by Mr. S

tv and movies
and music too loud
the crying of babies
the shouts from a crowd

busses and trucks
cars zooming by
honking and screeching
planes roar in the sky

brothers and sisters
out-shouting each other
one screams for your dad
one screams for your mother

lunchrooms so noisy
it curdles your cheese
coughings and sneezings
please use your sleeve

intruding commercials
bark to persuade
all of this cacophony
just won’t go away

washers and dryers
thunder all night
a moth hypnotized
tap-tap-tapping the light

so I ask you, I beg you
to answer my query:
where can one go
where it’s not quite so noisy?

how does one find
a sliver, a slice
of absolute silence
no audible might?

some recess from screaming
even whispering winds
how to keep out
the sound that gets in?

inescapable noises
a torrent of sound
I’ve searched and I’ve searched
no respite I’ve found

no absolute silence
so I’m sad to announce
that I too have to shout:
“PLEASE KEEP IT DOWN!”