From My Window Poem by Bill Galvin

The kid upstairs keeps me from napping,
So I figured I'd do some writing instead.
Boop-boop-boop-boop-boop-boop… boom.
A toddler runs across my ceiling and plops down on the floor;
She's a happy kid, so, I only hear the fun of growing up.

I have some John Prine playing, so I'm distracted enough;
And I've finished cooking my "famous" (my world is small) pasta sauce,
So, I'm kicking back a bit.

It's a big view to the outside,
As the second-floor slider keeps me close to the outdoors.

I can ignore what's below the railing, it's only a parking lot or two,
With a tall fence separating this three-floor building and a saloon.
The nearby wooded wetland fills the mid-frame view,
And I'm glad to still be able to watch the trees change,
Hear the tree sounds; the birds, the crickets, the peepers in season.
The top third has plenty of sky to watch the sun and moon rise,
And to show me a live picture of the clouds moving in or leaving.

I moved the brown leather sofa here, so it's a comfortable viewpoint;
And between the bushy indoor potted plants,
I can see when to move my car to the choicest parking spot in the lot;
Which provides a number of impressions for others to see of me…
That I may appear busier than I am, back and forth, bustling,
That I'm doing more than shuffling a bit of time
From here to there and around inside my days.

It may sound lonesome, but it's not… I get along well with myself…
And, outside my window, as well as inside, there is music…
There are friends, dear ones, laughs, and places to go;
But I am always seeking compromise… always balancing…
Too much fun worries me… too much down time scares me…
Too much sun burns me… too much lone time bares me.

So, wherever I am, you'll see me at a window…
Watching the rain fall, the sun shine, the snow brighten the darkness,
Watching the clouds come by and roll on…
The strangers riding in and away, the growing and the dying…
The sharing of short hellos and the long goodbyes…
Looking from my window,
For the better places to park my car… my soul… my heart.

January,2017