All the sounds, all at once

The two of us sit and finish up a quiet café breakfast,
Another couple enters the space and takes a seat,
Two more, caught up in a high energy conversation,
An old lady reads, as her grandson bangs away at a noisey ipad,
A group of four loud workmen enter and sit right behind me,
The old lady looks over her glasses, hearing their foul language,
I can see my wife speaking, sipping her coffee, smiling,
But I am somewhere, anywhere else, I cannot hear her,
We are now communicating from distant worlds,
Why can’t she notice that the atmosphere has changed,
I close my eyes to reset, but the sound is everywhere,
Cutlery scraping on plates, different voices, intense laughter,
Different sounds seemingly competing for sonic dominance,
“Hello, are you even listening to me” my wife’s voice booms,
Not her fault, but her sudden interjection instantly angers me,
“Of course” I lie, I’m barely capable of hearing my own words,
The table of four erupts into loud over dramatized laughter,
It reminds me of my own workplace, nothing is that funny,
It is louder laughter than the greatest comedians enjoy,
Fake, people are fake, anger stirs as my mind splinters into shards,
“We have to go”, I try to dull my senses further but I’m at full capacity,
All of the sounds, all at once, are just too much for me,
“ok”, she finishes her coffee, her face fills with her displeasure,
Guilt fills me as we leave, but I feel like I’m just trying to cope,
I wasn’t always this man.