Silence

Posted on 10/20/2019 by Andrew Reynolds

The power of poetry is often expressed in the silence between the words – felt in the things unsaid.  What to not say is the question.  Prose drones on until the words fade into meaningless noise.  Preachers and politicians speak, rant and rail until the meaning  is lost and all that remains is the noisy shell of desires being blown out to sea.  Endless words, repeated, and reinforced build a fortress where compassion breaks on the ramparts and mercy is locked in the deepest dungeons.

People surround themselves with noise to prevent their minds from turning on.  Busyness replaces care and concern.  Loud music drowns out the cry of the homeless.  The rumble of traffic pushes past the lonely in need of a friendly word and a simple touch of concern.

Silence.

Listen to the silence.  Dare to let your mind be pulled to the song of a bird, of water over the rocks, or the wind in the trees.

It is in the quiet places of our heart where we find strength and compassion.  It is in the song of the sky where we hear the voice of our creator.

Stop reading, turn off the TV, and sit in the silence of the trees for a time.

The best poem would have no words, but would say it all.

About Andrew Reynolds

Born in California Did the school thing studying electronics, computers, release engineering and literary criticism. I worked in the high tech world doing software release engineering and am now retired. Then I got prostate cancer. Now I am a blogger and work in my wood shop doing scroll saw work and marquetry.
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18 Responses to Silence

  1. thelevinelowdown says:
    03/20/2020 at 5:42 am

    Thank you for this beautiful post, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and learning from your perspective! I have recently published an article on my blog about why I love silence. If you have time, it would be great if you could check out my post as I would be interested to hear your thoughts! Thanks 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  2. Diane Henders says:
    10/27/2019 at 9:23 am

    Ah. Lovely. *silence*

    Liked by 1 person

  3. Christi says:
    10/24/2019 at 5:37 pm

    I just finished a book titled “The Language of Silence.” His point was, whether with animals or bugs or plants, it is in silence that we can communicate the most. And now you just made me realize it applies to poetry too.
    We need more silence in this world.

    Liked by 1 person

  4. thelonelyauthorblog says:
    10/24/2019 at 4:36 pm

    Beautiful and perfect thoughts. The beauty of poetry is often found in the unspoken words.

    Liked by 1 person

  5. aginggracefullymyass says:
    10/24/2019 at 10:32 am

    Loved this! It was so poetic!

    Liked by 1 person

  6. Debra says:
    10/22/2019 at 10:15 pm

    Beautifully said, Andrew. I need silence as a regular pattern in each day. I love music and I’m a bit of an information magnet, but I have to unplug frequently not to be overwhelmed. It’s a very noisy, unconscious world out there, and I need to take frequent breaks from all of that chaos. Thank you for such a thoughtful way to be reminded of the value in silence.

    Liked by 1 person

  8. Jacqui Murray says:
    10/21/2019 at 7:16 am

    I like this post a lot, Andrew.

    Liked by 2 people

  9. cindy knoke says:
    10/20/2019 at 10:00 pm

    “The power of poetry is often expressed in the silence between the words – felt in the things unsaid. ”
    Yes.
    Humans often talk too much.

    Liked by 1 person

  10. robertawrites235681907 says:
    10/20/2019 at 8:56 pm

    Interestingly enough, Andrew, I read another post this week about the need to embrace silence and reflect on life. Life is so fast it is easy to lose this necessary skill. A great post.

    Liked by 2 people

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