You have the right to remain silent
You have the rite to remain silent.
The Holiness of Quietude
There is too much noise.
Too many voices throwing opinions into my air.
Too many hatreds and conflicts invading my peaceful space.
Too many lies are told and perhaps even too many unwelcome truths.
Too many unsought, undesired, and unsolicited voices.
Not only do I have the right to silence.
Silence is also a rite, a holy place.
Where in what I perceive to be silence,
I shut out other sounds and voices but discover treasure.
There is no real silence in this “quiet” world, but things that matter and endure.
I can hear birds outside, the rustle of the wind through the trees, and
--perhaps not so far away, the long meow of my 20-year-old cat.
There is the sound of a distant train,
of which I know not whence it came or whence it is going.
But that quietude of hearing only these few sounds is a treasure,
That does not demand my attention.
I have enough silence to hear myself breath and listen to my own heartbeat.
I have the uninterrupted silence to think of things and people I love
And enjoy a moment of peace.
Wherein my opinion nor attention are demanded of me,
The quiet is sacred and beautiful,
And the earth is a place of wonder, even with all of us living in it.
I am not who I was yesterday,
Nor am I who I will be tomorrow,
But the wind will rush in the trees,
The red-shouldered hawk will swoop and soar,
Regardless of anyone’s opinion or version of truth,
And the sounds of that quietude will still be there
Whether or not I am.
And the time of quietude will persist.
And that is a holy time, a rite of silence.
A home where poetry lives.
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