-- In Silence, A Message --

By John Herlihy

In silence a message arrives,

Without the benefit of words.

Over long distances survives,

Tucked in the wings of birds.

One message silently arrives,

In a calligraphy of swirling smoke.

Only human imagination can devise,

Conveyed across distance – hope.

Rising from a mountain peak,

Thru the heavens seeking trails.

Carried by winds that seek,

To communicate coded details.

Across the centuries of time,

Ways of communication invented.

Speaking in secret ways sublime,

From tribe to tribe presented.

Messages conveyed thru tongues of fire,

Others across distance in flashes of light.

Finding ways to convey one’s heart desire,

Whether of smoke by day or fireflies of night.

Found in the breath of weeping willows,

Or the wind whispering thru the pines.

Cloud configurations that resemble pillows,

The loving caress heart in wind chimes.

Messages trackers find in imprints of ground,

Birds flying in unison across the open sky.

Fingerprints, footprints all have no sound,

Only the unanswered questions where, why.

Departure and arrival marked by a horn,

Sounding melancholy notes that soar.

Narratives since when we were born,

Musical harmonies that our hearts adore.

The insistent pounding of jungle drums,

Dancing to a beat that imaginations crave.

Their reverberations thru the entire body hums,

Bearing messages that could possibly save.

Forget not messages sent in the wing of a bird,

How nature aids us in our furtive acts of stealth.

Across vast distances with their need to be heard,

Words of wisdom never to betray its hidden wealth.

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Copyright © John Herlihy

Saturday 26 May 2023