Of keys and crickets

I hear the sound
of crickets
climbing out
of the air vent

they must have escaped
many years ago
from the snakes, lizards,
and hamsters
I once had

safety in
exile
lost in
the ventilation system
of my home

I bleed myself
onto the keys
of my piano
and sing like
cracking
while I hear their cries
echo out of the floors
below me

a symphony
of loneliness
shatters the
hollow space
of night