I watched the drop forge
Across from my home.
My window faces it
and everyday,
I watch.

I watch the metal being poured
making washers, pipes, rings
and bolts

And I feel the hammer fall
It shakes the house
The windows rattle

The dishes clink-clank together.

The floor vibrates with the BANG BANG
of the hammer
and there's nothing I can do to stop it

Somehow
I've managed to sleep through it
slept through it for years.

I can sleep through the pounding
the shaking, the noise.

But my thoughts, though silent,
keep me awake.

And there's nothing I can do to stop it.