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.