i couldn't take it anymore

i never

realized

what a noisy eater

she was

until she was at the kitchen

table

eating corn flakes

and buttered toast.

i could hear

her all the ways

up the stairs.

the crunch crunch

crunch

of her teeth

against the cereal.

the spoon rattling

against

the bowl, her loud chopping

up of a banana.

the scrape of butter

against

the burnt bread.

this will never work out,

i thought

from the floor above,

she had to go.