A Quieter Place

I live in a quieter place
where traffic noise happens
as surprise – intrusion –
and even the sound of the
furnace forces its way into
consciousness – I am here –
I am working – notice me –

In this quieter place, there is
sound aplenty – late season
crows cawing their way across
a fog-laden skyline . . .
peeping calls from the winter
birds who will stay on nestled
into the massive forsythia
surrounding the east and south
of the house creating cover still,
their leaves not yet dropped . . .
maple leaves and the wind that
blows them creating their own
soft symphony – like I said,
it is a quieter place, this place
when I can hear a leaf drop
to the waiting, welcoming,
ground below

 – and it beckons
my soul – peace, be still