Listening in the Dark
by Michael F. Latza


We listen to our transistor radios in the dark
A fragile audience,
Still lying on only one side of the bed,
The other holding comforts
Added to nightly:
Extra batteries, magazines, flashlight,
Prescription medicines, hard candy, Bible,
Antacids, Kleenex, pencil and paper;
Glass of water on the nightstand,
Tissue filled coffee can
On the floor.

Quietly in the empty house
Keeping the custom of the night hours
We lie in the dark
Listening to our transistor radios
Distracting us from nothing.






Copyright © 2024 by Red River Review. First Rights Reserved. All other rights revert to the authors.
No work may be reproduced or republished without the express written consent of the author.