Remember? (Holmes)

Remember the hush at the beginning of all this?

We were stunned at the depth and reach of  it. 

No cars or trucks on the street, no traffic noise -- even in the distance.

Just wind and birds, and at night, trees and rain.

But now! The summer commotion in my neighborhood

is the loudest I remember -- power mowers, motorcycles,

firecrackers every night, and car stereos at full throb.

But this local ruckus is nothing compared to

the thunder of long-silenced rage and grief

heard everywhere and bringing that shiver of hope

we feel when a storm sweeps in and changes everything.

June 2020

Meredith Holmes has two poetry collections, both published by Pond Road Press: Shubad’s Crown, 2003; and Familiar at First, Then Strange, 2015. In 2005-06, she served as the first poet laureate of Cleveland Heights. Meredith is a freelance writer, focused on tech transfer and women in engineering, science, and politics.