Alan Balter

Night Noises



My parents' bedroom is far from mine, so I have to wonder
What the noise is every night that sounds a lot like thunder
We don't live near the seashore, but almost every morn
I'm wakened by a noise that sounds like a fog horn

It's louder than the sound of barking dogs at night
Or a fireworks explosion that lights the sky real bright
A chain saw cutting logs doesn't make as much din
Nor did the wall coming down way over in Berlin

A jet plane at takeoff will get your attention quick
As will a jackhammer engaged in busting up some brick
But neither equals the clammer from Mom and Dad's bedroom
Worse than a stack of dynamite at the moment of KABOOM!

At last I figured out the source of all the raucous roaring
It was only good old Dad engaging in some snoring
Mom says: "I don't mind; it's really a Godsend
That all that wind isn't coming out the other end"

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Father saw me looking in my closet yesterday
A place in a state of rather constant disarray
It's something I do often to stimulate my mind
Because I'm never certain of exactly what I'll find

Today I was amazed by the stuff I found inside
Like an old time politician who hardly ever lied
A child of color starting school with an even chance
A bunch of defused atom bombs made in Russian plants

A car that runs on hydrogen and helps clean up the air
An airplane that takes off on time for a decent fare
A healthy man at a buffet eating lobster chowder
With no holes in his nose from snorting on white powder

Articles that were truthful in grocery store tabloids
Baseball players hitting homers in the absence of steroids
Congressmen in Washington who pass a balanced budget
Corporate leaders paying taxes without trying to fudge it

Teachers who are respected and paid a living wage
Columnists who stick to facts on the printed page
Jurors who aren't blinded by the color of folks' skin
When judging perpetrators and the trouble that they're in

Women earning equal pay for the jobs they do like men
Homeless people off the street; good times are here again
The Father told me it was time for me to study
"No one gives diplomas out for dreaming my old buddy"

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