ODE TO SILENCE
By John Herlihy

I
Silence imitates sound,
By becoming profound.
Without uttering a word,
Wisdom can be heard.

II
Silence awakens the senses;
The desert echoes presence;
The wolf hears the inaudible;
The owl sees the invisible.

III
Silence purifies the soul;
Makes a twisted psyche whole;
Opens the mind to serenity;
Fills the heart with infinity.

IV
Silence never says a lie;
Never utters a single cry.
Animals consider it a warning.
Evil desire darkens the morning.

V
Silence cures the world’s ills,
Much better than synthetic pills.
It is the panacea of the savant;
It satisfies every human want.

VI
Silence invades solitude;
Plays a quiet interlude;
Washes away unwanted turpitude;
Changes solitude into beatitude.

VII
Silence invites no interruption,
Just lays itself bare.
When silence knocks,
No one is there.

VIII
Silence floats on its back,
Like a baby in the water,
Relaxed like a sagging sack,
A musical string strung tauter,

IX
If silence had a scent,
What would it be?
Winter morning sunshine,
Or darkness within the sea?

X
Silence is sound waiting,
A potential about to be,
The sound stars might be making,
In outer space, a dark still sea.

XI
Silence appears inhuman, cold;
Not a thing to be bought or sold,
Resting between the ripples of a pond,
Found quietly between the petals of a rose.

XII
We know now what silence is not,
Not a sigh, murmur or whisper,
No name either miss or mister
The mystery of silence remains untaught.

XIII
If sound is surface, silence is depth;
Sound speaks to us with incredible heft;
Nature has no need of words;
Silence is her one remark.