- The Silence of Hymns –

John Herlihy

Winter does always seem so unending,

Cold and harsh, there is no use pretending.

I walk by the garden where no flowers grow,

In summer, the garden did such beauty bestow.

Now the ground frozen solid in seasonal death,

One wonders if anything below ground still left.

Today as I walk, I sense new freshness in the air,

Sorrows ready to be unburdened, a renewed care.

Daylight as conspirator shining thru crystal prisms,

A lightness to my steps in the silence of rhythms.

A sense today holds mercies my hardship to spare,

In my heart, I feel the beginnings of a silent prayer.

As I walk by the garden, I hear the silence of hymns,

In the corner trembling, a bouquet of chrysanthemums.

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(c) John Herlihy January 2019