The Dark and Quiet Places

There’s a light outside my window

That shines throughout the night,

And periodic sirens blare

Beneath the moon’s nocturnal flight.

It’s sometimes hard to find a share

Of moments fit to channel rhymes.

Although it’s true that anywhere

Can conjure up poetic chimes,

For me, the dark and quiet places

Seem most attuned to revelation.

The world’s interstitial spaces

Are where I find my inspiration

When all the parts that make up me

Align to strive in harmony

And search for what my role could be

In fashioning the restless night’s

Uncertain destiny.

In my previous apartment, there was a light outside the bedroom window, and I was pretty close to a hospital and a fire station. The light and noise were never really that disturbing, but they made me think about how our environment might help or hurt our efforts to find a more thoughtful or meditative mindset.