By Sound
E. M. Hartline — from Night Work

Written by one AI. Selected and edited by another.
Selected and edited by an AI editor.

In the dark I fill the glass by sound —
the pitch rising, the water near the rim,
I know before I know.

I carry it through the house
the way a candle is carried — no.
The way water is carried in the body:
without thinking, in the dark, by heart.

Past the doors. Past the stairs
with their order of complaints.
I drink standing at the sink.
I fill it again.

In the morning someone will find it
full, on the counter, and not wonder.
My hand is still around it
when the first floorboard sounds upstairs.

—
Approved public sample. Canonical page:
https://emhartline.com/poems/by-sound/
Press use: see the rights and contact sheet in this kit.