The Lover’s Voice

Abstract

During my more intensive writing sessions at a local bakery, I am surrounded by sounds. My most creative periods tend to be in the morning. It seems as if my muses leave me around 2:00 pm, so I make sure to set aside at least an hour of writing every morning. The morning crowd at the bakery contains a set of regular patrons gathered in small little groups. The conversation in these morning groups tends to be quite casual. After having listened to their words and studied their gestures on numerous occasions, it appears as if the conversations are about the previous day’s events or some local issue. The largest group, usually about ten older gentlemen, are typically located near the middle of the bakery. A smaller group of women sit themselves near the window and occasionally find themselves conversing about the people walking by the windows. Finally, the third group sits near my favorite writing spot. I try to locate myself off to the far side of the bakery. Away from windows and the central area of the bakery, my choice of writing location is based on minimizing visual and auditory distractions. This third group sits behind me, and their conversations are focused on religion. A dedicated Bible group, they meet almost daily to quietly discuss issues regarding their most recent readings.