I sit in a chair
outside our front door
with a view
of the surrounding forest.
Flies buzz nearby,
birds chirp a little farther away; and
geese argue heatedly about something
at the neighbor's pond.
Someone is nailing something,
swinging a hammer hard.
I close my eyes,
taking it all in: 
flies, birds, geese, hammer, sunshine.

The rhythmic pounding goes first,
hammer slipping out
of my mental grasp,
then the geese fade away,
still arguing,
followed by the
flies,
birds,
sliding from my awareness
until
there's just
the silent sun
shining
on an empty chair.