EXPOSED

"White Noise"

I am sitting at my dining room table

Watching incense burn

My mind is blank

Something flashes in the corner of my eye

I turn my head

I see nothing

I watch the incense burn and listen

To the oven fan attempt to clear smoke

To the dishwasher massage the dishes

With hot water. Endlessly and content

In the distance,

Upstairs

I hear my wife preparing for bed

Denoted by the small thumps of drawers

And a light footfall that reaches through

The fan and whistling washing machine

My cat purrs with an oscillating cadence

Warming my feet

Remotely

I hear car doors slam in a four note rhythm

The last note encouraging

An ember to fall from the burning incense

My pen whispers on the paper