-- Silence of a Poem –

John Herlihy

We think of a poem as melodic words,

Melodic words chirping as beautiful birds.

Beautiful birds that soar upward on high,

On high into the deep silence of the sky.

In the sky where silence reigns absolute,

Unsounded bell, a vast dome, ever mute.

Not what is said in the poems that count,

Visuals that inspire emotions that mount.

Feelings that linger as words float away,

Back in sounds of silence that hold sway.

To catch thru images what can’t be seen,

To arouse moods by whatever they mean.

Silence around a snow-glad mountain peak,

There in repose, a stillness our hearts seek.

Mute arrival of dawn, dying breath of dusk,

Emerald green pine forests smelling of musk.

The miracle of a rainbow, the arc of its glow,

A shimmering mirage with mercy to bestow.

Such wisdom found in the eye of moonrise,

Mute twilight to accompany the sun’s demise.

Evocative words of a poem most project,

Such silence in a poem that we least expect.

What left behind when poetic words spent,

Awesome silence of what the poem meant.

Silence of a poem lying quietly on the page

The words crafted from the mind of a sage

The heart blood as ink from a feathered quill

Echoes of meaning reverberate as silence still

Whispers of a poem evoke a silence pure,

Lying quietly on the page a reader to lure.

Its rhythms as waves in a mystical ocean,

With threads of mystery and light woven.

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Copyright © John Herlihy

Thursday 3 November 2022