local_library Atmosphere

by Fred Gerhard

Published in Issue No. 287 ~ April, 2021

The descending tone of a single prop

rises to a steady hum lost in atmosphere

I breathe – and again –

quieter, listen

 

three notes of a truck in reverse

three blocks away

warning transmitted even to me

the intention to go back

through blind spots

 

the first sounds of an SOS

injury is possible, listening for

what lifts off from the ground

or rolls back heavy as time

under the wheel

 

there’s much more I do not hear:

 

my breath repeating,

squirrel talons down walnut bark,

oak leaf scuffling over fallen copper comrades

to no avail, catching

the momentary lift

that slid the glinting plane out of view

carried the warning thrice intoned,

 

glancing to the courtyard

 

I forgot to mention

the breath I held

listening for you.

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Fred Gerhard’s poetry has been published in Entropy Magazine, The Heavy Feather Review, The Wild Musette Journal, Black Moon Magazine, and other magazines and anthologies. A psychologist by trade, he led a poetry therapy group for many years in Worcester, Massachusetts. He writes from a small town in rural New England where he lives with his wife and son.