"pressed"

he puts on his earphones,
turns the pumping rhythm, the
obscenity-peppered lines
up and miraculously, they
drown out the nonsense they
(his parents)
make with their
inconsequential bickering
interesting, funny
how he now can watch them
stretch their lips, their
accusing fingers
from a further space where they
can't reach him
his sister says,
lower the volume, i
don't understand how you
can listen to that. it's
such terrible music. all that
yelling, how is it good for you

when all he wants is to
escape,
blank-out