Turn Off

The tv is too loud,
screaming news
overwhelmingly bleak.
So I leave 
it off and 
turn to
books 
and podcasts.
I turn off my
phone for 
hours at a time.
I turn off 
social media 
and embrace the
quiet.
I lie down with
a pillow 
over my eyes,
listening to a
story.
I sit by the fire
and read.
I sit 
in the stillness.
I read
a book o
poems.
I give myself
space
to feel my
feelings.
I send a friend
a podcast
I'm enjoying, 
thinking
she will like it.