The house is silent, as if the power has once again failed,
as if we’re in the middle of a storm. I wake with a start,
the foreign noise jagged to my ear till I hear your voice
ring out – hostile and aggressive, your anger once again
a barrage I’m forced to weather. Your last outburst –
shouts and cursing and your hand slammed
onto the desk – sinking in like thick paint on drywall,
the walls hungry for it, swallowing it completely. I lie
in bed, the now-quiet house telling me its secrets,
reminding me silence isn’t always the best answer.
Courtney LeBlanc is the author of the chapbooks All in the Family (Bottlecap Press) and The Violence Within (Flutter Press) and is an MFA candidate at Queens University of Charlotte. Her poetry is published or forthcoming in Public Pool, Rising Phoenix Review, The Legendary, Germ Magazine, Quail Bell Magazine, Brain Mill Press, Haunted Waters Press, and others. She loves nail polish, wine, and tattoos. Read her blog at www.wordperv.com, follow her on twitter: @wordperv, or find her on Facebook.