
Tonight it’s just me
and the whiskey glass
and the ticking of the clocks
I won’t wind when they stop
and the sounds of traffic outside like an ocean’s song
and the old couple who live upstairs moving their dining chairs around erratically
and the dead hum of the refrigerator — empty like a person with no soul
and you’re laughing I’m sure but you’re laughing somewhere else tonight
and I wonder why the memories that come like a spring morning’s sunlight through a motel window hurt much more than the ones chained up like a snarling dog
and I drink my whiskey slowly
and listen to a loud silence so profound it roars like deafness.
Stephen J. Golds was born in London, U.K, but has lived in Japan for most of his adult life. He enjoys spending time with his daughters, reading books, traveling, boxing and listening to old Soul LPs. His novel Say Goodbye When I’m Gone was released by Red Dog Press in October 2020 and another novel Glamour Girl Gone will be released by Close to The Bone Press January 2021.