And Now I Hear By Teresa Blackmon

                   And Now I Hear

I hear a tireless hum inside my head.
Its raspy tune I oft mistake for song
or quiet buzz that plays with constant dread.

When sleep betrays and my hunger can’t be fed,
the tune sneaks round, comes in and stays too long.
I hear a tireless hum inside my head.

The noise surrounds me like a twisted thread,
entangling imaginary monsters until dawn,
and horrid buzz that sounds with constant dread.

Perhaps it is the tongue of those who’ve left.
I listen for my mother’s soothing tone
but hear a tireless hum inside my head.

I wait for friends and papa while in bed
but every time the empty signal’s prolonged,
a horrid buzz that sounds with constant dread.

And now I have decided to play dead,
to hold my tightening breath so long,
I hear a tireless hum inside my head,
a horrid buzz that sings with constant dread.

Teresa Blackmon is a retired English teacher, yearbook adviser and librarian. She has an MA in English from N. C. State University and a MLS from North Carolina Central University. She is from Benson, NC, a small town near Raleigh. She enjoys living and writing on the family farm with a menagerie—horses, goats, miniature donkeys, a dog, and a cat. Her first book of poems, Daddy Said, was published by Finishing Line Press in 2020. Her chapbook, Cast of Characters, has recently been accepted for publication.