Static and chitchat

by Melanie Choukas-Bradly
 

If I can avoid it I will
The static of chitchat
Talk so small it rattles and fades

I tell you tell he tells she tells
One up storytelling
With shallow laughter brackets

Leave the table with me now
And walk outside
The night awaits, all dark, all deep


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Melanie Choukas-Bradley is a naturalist and award-winning author of seven nature books, including City of Trees and A Year in Rock Creek Park. Her book, Wild Walking—A Guide to Forest Bathing Through the Seasons will be released in June. Melanie began writing poetry during the pandemic and had the good fortune to discover Beate Sigriddaughter’s Writing in a Woman’s Voice. The site has featured many of her poems, including “How to Silence a Woman,” “If I have loved you,” “The Water Cooler,” and “Muddled Grief,” which won Moon Prizes. Her poetry has also appeared in New Verse News.