-- Silence Within --

John Herlihy

In hearing silence

He paid attention

Awash in inner calm

His silence his balm

His days filled with it

Nights upon nights of it

The silence of no friend

The silence of the end

Silence to become profound

Silence when no one around

Silence in the brief dawn

Silence can be long drawn

The silence of the smile

The silence of the heart

Silence of the cat’s tread

Silence found in dread

Silence has no beginning

Silence has no ending

Silence a bottomless well

Silence a limitless spell

Silence lives in the face

Silence of hands that touch

Silence heard in the wind

Silence seen in the wave

Silence awakened him

Until silence entered him.

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(c) John Herlihy 31 August 2019