The Sound I Couldn’t Join

Laughter spills over the cracked door,

sharp, bright, like glass breaking on tile.

I try to write but the sound sneaks in,

a wild thread unraveling my quiet.

Light pools beneath the crack,

a hum of voices that I’m not part of,

a story told without my name.

That laugh, irrepressible, catches and holds,

a sudden flash I can’t reach,

a bright flicker just out of grasp.