Like A Man To Alone Poem by Ben Partenay

the sounds from outside mix with the
hammer in my head, mix with the rain
on the roof, tap, tap, drip, drop,
so much noise the robin can’t be heard

and I’ve got a nail in my head for the hammer
a song in my head for the rain but no
place for the silence, no place for that
robin, no place for anything of color

so I pace the floor, lie up late restless in
my bed with a spring in my back with
a broken string in the rains orchestra
and I make up for it, tap my feet on the floor

until the foot grows tired but not tired enough
for sleep, not tired enough for the robin song
I lay awake with an open ear pressed to
the pillow, inside another string snaps