Bachelor Apartment

June 30 2013


The neighbours
are making love
on the floor above me.
Joists groan
she screams, he moans,

springs frantically squeak.
In the dregs of night
in the cold grey light
of just-before-dawn,
when regular people
sleep tight
beside bedside ticking clocks.

I listen-in
again
to the intimate friends
I have never met
face to face.
I flush, resent
try to suppress
envy

I can't help but feel,
the embarrassment
as if I'd walked right in
and watched.
My mind races
with plans to relocate,

the complaint

I rehearse in my head

over and over again.

The neighbours
in the place beneath
do not know I exist.
Yet they might as well be here

in bed,
each clenched defensive voice

sharp sarcastic barb
icily clear.
So close
I feel the chill
seeping up from below.

Behind thin walls

we live out private lives

even more alone.

Pass our neighbours by

nodding politely.