Nighttime Cacophony

I have just gone to bed. 

I have said my prayers. I am ready to sleep. 

I lay in bed, trying to quiet my brain. 

At last, stillness comes. Serenity reigns.

Yet it is short-lived. My ears hear and my brain registers the myriad of noises in the night….

Geese honking

Frogs croaking

Crickets chirping

Water flowing in fountain in the duck pond

A car driving down my street

Traffic from the nearby highway

A bird calling in the night

Car horn blaring

Water rushing through the pipes

Kittens running like thundering stallions

Car door slamming

People shouting

Dogs barking

                Front door slamming

                Airplanes taking off

No wonder I can’t sleep, with such cacophony.