Just before dawn,
when the first fingers of light
brush against the sky,
something beckons.

Nobody cares if you are out;
the noise of the human world
won’t be revving up until later,
and you can stand
listening to the quiet
for as long as you like.

Out there in the earth at that hour,
silence billows around you: invisible clouds
trembling with quiet meanings,
moving soundlessly on the clear air,
making their way inside you.

This silence is what
you must bring to the world