-- One Lasting Silence --

John Herlihy

In life, we hear many silences,

A fluid wave of still movement,

Notable for its lack of sound.

Snow falls as winter bounty,

Casting spells into winter night.

The light of dawn rises, hushed.

The snail moves in absolute quiet,

Its shell echoes the roar of the sea.

The earth moves in its rhythmic orbit,

Nary a word, creak or groan uttered.

Deep space echoes only awed silence,

See, not hear, music of the spheres.

The eagle soars in its solitary flight,

Solemn, majestic, mocking the wind.

The breeze is silent, but for whispers,

Invisible winds take liberties to roar.

The bud opens into a beautiful bloom,

Such beauty captured in silent smell.

In my life, I do hear multiple silences,

Silence of tasting and silence of touch.

Silence of sight and silence of smell,

Silence of questions never to respond.

Silence of future hours that never arrive,

The present moment ever filled by sound.

The silent passing of the four seasons,

The mute presence felt in passing time.

Silence never found in absence of sound,

Deep silence felt as beating of the heart.

The silence within felt as desert stillness,

The silence within felt as a starless night.

Most notable, I hear one lasting silence,

I seek and search, I question and wonder.

Mute silence never leaves me, as if it cares,

Nothingness there as something, a mystery.

Vast and eternal, right there inside of me,

Mirroring the silence of the star-filled night.

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Copyright © John Herlihy

Friday 12 March 2021