Quiet but loud

Needing to bring myself at ease
Leaves rustling in the breeze
Pebbles being kicked
The fall leaves flicked
Too loud.

Safely arriving, head louder and fast
This house just as quiet as the last.
The sound of the clock torments me
Me and upstairs, we
Taunting me with nothing but tick...tock...tick

Silence fills the rooms
Nothing but my thoughts upstairs.
My mind keeping me company while I sit still
Quiet time is too quiet sometimes.

Everything calm but my mind,
It's too loud up there.
It's peaceful outside,
It's nice.

I'm as quiet as a mouse
A tiny person in a new house
Nothing but me and my mind
I like it.

They arrive home safe and sound
But it's still bad
I know I'm going mad
I sit here my mind in a riot
But I think it's never quiet

--Xitlaly D., 9th-12th Grade.