Sonnets From Other Lives: Cecil

Eventually it all became white noise--
the music, TV, family conversation.
Over time I grew less annoyed
by our nattering culture. My relations
resented the remoteness--the abstraction.
As the dinner table buzzed with trivia
& the daughters dropped bombs--hoped for a reaction.
They were disappointed. I’d be giving the
nod & smile response to provocations
that should by all rights set the room aflame
for I’d become immune to perturbation.
I’m within my self now. Nothing else remains.
Silence becomes me, so I will be dumb
in my own Zen equilibrium.