Ataraxia

Ataraxia (n) | A state of serene calmness

Words pour forth
From every direction
Piling up on top of each other
Each letter screaming to be heard

The slam of a door
Incessant keyboard clicks
And annoying ringtones

Even the bathroom in the office
Plays soft radio tunes
As if a quiet moment
Would be too absurd

And the house is not immune
The television blares nonsense
Kids run around screaming
Pots and pans bang

Sirens, gun shots, horns
Airplanes, leaf blowers
Lawn mowers, dogs

Your feet can't move any faster
As they carry you away
From the sounds of the city
The buzz of life
Useless noise

Until you are deep in the forest
Surrounded by trees
And life so quiet
You can't believe your ears

It's the moment
When you hear yourself breathe
When your heart has a voice
When solitude is comforting

You breathe in
The smell of cedar
Oak trees, sap
The musk of damp earth

You close your eyes
Finally
Peace

Reviews

[J. K. Beach]

Jeccka,

You have hit on two important things; one fairly new, the endless activity and cacophony of modern life; and one very old, the yearning for nature (or at least the cessation of man made noise). The descriptions of the intruding sounds flows easily on through the lines and stanzas until, not able to take it a moment longer you escape to the forest. The staccato of your earlier words cease and the flow slows as you breathe in the silence and exhales in soft, slow, measured words, the peace around you. You handle the contrast between the realities of modern life and the solace of nature well. Great work!

[Jeccka]

Wow. Thanks! It was inspired, in part, by the ceaseless (and useless) noise of humankind. I find great peace in nature and felt that was the only way to truly express Ataraxia. I appreciate your feedback and I'm very excited to hear how much you liked it! Thanks again.

[Skai Rain]

Beautiful poem. I can not tell you how much this actually relates to me as I myself run and sit in the forest for hours at a time everyday. When stressed, there is no better medication than the smell of cedar. Thank you for sharing, I enjoyed the read :)

[Jeccka]

I love the forest, being in the trees and the quite... I'm glad it came through in this piece! Thank you for reviewing! :)

[K. Payne]

Your poem really emphasizes all of the noises that are usually "unheard" or not noticed that much. Sometimes it gets on my nerves when I hear the slightest of sounds. Nice description. your first and sixth stanzas are probably my favorite. It kind of shows how a lot of people may feel.

[Jeccka]

Thanks! I was really hoping to show the contrast between noise and peace to explain the true meaning of Ataraxia. Very happy you like it.!

[Lexi]

With every line I could visualize it, seeing myself amist all of these things. It's so beautiful, when reading it it actually made me feel a little frustrated and long for the forests comfort. Amazing job and a great read :)

[Jeccka]

Thank you!! I'm really glad it kind of transported you into what I was talking about and were able to feel what I wanted you to. That's so cool. I appreciate your admiration :)

[Alfred Kukitz]

Welcome Jeccka! Yes I'll be a friend. About your writing: the cadence of the poem compliments the rush of noise confounding your inner peace. I like your choices for describing the forest: cedar, oak, sap, musk.

[Jeccka]

Glad you like it! Thank you Alfred :)

[Nina C Palmer]

Yes, yes, yes... great word choice! Beautiful executed. It played like a little commercial in my mind. Like a Nike commercial about jogging shoes. I connected with it very much.

[Jeccka]

Haha that's awesome! I can picture that too, though it wasn't my initial thought process.! Thank you for reviewing! Very happy you like it and connected with it.

[Lucid Dreamer]

I was just complaining about how noisy things were and here I am now reading about it. Great poem! I really enjoyed it.

[Jeccka]

Awesome! Glad you liked it and can relate.