"Great Silence" by Tricia Knoll, Frequent Contributor

Great Silence

Tricia Knoll

            “A great silence comes over me

            and I wonder why I ever thought to use language.”  – Rumi

A great silence comes over me, not

for lack of mellow round vowels

that make my mouth drool.

Not for fear of how my small phrases

dwarf to nothing in scatter winds

that shake crabapples in flower.

Not the silence of giving over

to sleep, drink, the first lines

of a play, or talking heads on break.

The silence of those who listen. 

That silence that reels in

what the earth speaks

of multitudes that live in mud,

antiquities pummeled into dust,

growth rings in heartwood. 

Poet's Notes: There is some irony in being a poet with a voice disability. I have been thinking lately that perhaps the message to me is to listen more, observe. Silence can be a practice.