Nathaniel Kenny
I’m learning lately how to be more mindful.
My ears make a sphere around my head
and I find the chickadees above, the boots
below that chafe the elderly ice,
and the cars,
so many cars, that gnaw on the road
down behind the trees.
I don’t find, however, the heat
until it quiets,
and this new silence congeals the air like someone’s just said
something wrong.
I think that death may be like that.
I think that death may be when a noise
you hadn’t even realized was there
suddenly ceases to sound.
I’m learning lately how to deal with that.
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NATHANIEL KENNY is a graduate student at SUNY New Paltz with a BA in English and Philosophy. His work, mostly fiction, has been published in Echo Review, Tamarind Literary Magazine, Zaum, and elsewhere. See more at nathanielkenny.wordpress.com.
