The Unheard Laughter

The clatter of forks on plates, a bright

shriek of laughter from across the room.

Dinner with friends. Their faces

lit by candlelight, quick movements,

heads thrown back, throats exposed.

I smiled. My own jaw stiff.

Someone told a long story, full of names

I almost recognized. I nodded along,

a steady beat. The conversation,

a river, flowed around me,

carrying small boats of jokes and anecdotes

that I watched drift past.

I thought about the silence of my own apartment,

the way the air settles after the door clicks shut.

That, at least, is honest. This, here,

was something else. A noise,

a beautiful noise, that didn't know I was there.