Poem--Cacophony

I stepped out:
out into the bustling street:

the traffic and the crowd;

the blaring horns,
the screeching brakes,
the revving engines…

the barks of hawkers,
the blast of Radio Mirchi
from the market;

the prattle of people,
the crying of children,
the carping of beggars…

I stepped into cacophony,
let the chaos batter me,
envelop me, drown me;

encompass me…

for a moment of escape...

But—

louder was the silence;

louder, the echoes
of your rejection
in my emptiness;

louder, the snap
of my heart
breaking.