Attractions

I enter the hermitage

and sit down in shock

my home is like Las Vegas

dishwasher, telephone

street traffic

thud of packages at door

washing machine

radio or television

microwave beeps

kettle boiling

neighbor’s leaf blower

garbage truck shifting gears

Jim and I discussing politics

thirty days of quiet

have I lost my mind

and yet

the silence pulls me

like a magnet attracts

iron

(Sacred Datura flower)