-- A Silence That Speaks --

John Herlihy

A silence without sound never to be awoken,

The word of pure silence never to be spoken.

Sheer rhythms of silence to bestir a heartbeat,

A breath of silence to bestir the heart to greet.

A silence never seen in the air, never spoken to,

A silence as a prayer that remains unspoken to.

Yet God does speak with the silence of no words,

As touchingly intimate as the silence of birds.

We hear His words within the silence of a bell,

In never tolling, it conveys a rare message to tell.

The silence of midnight swans, of mountain peaks,

The silence of Mother Nature who eternally speaks.

There, all around us, a beauty that God ever willed,

There, deep within us, a well that begs to be filled.

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(c) John Herlihy 5 July 2020