A word about silence.
Before I entered the noisy busy world of Memphis Tennessee, I chanced to pass a driveway that looked secluded enough for a response to nature’s call. All that diet coke….anyway…..
I walked off the road into what can only be described as a wild version of the Ave Maria Grotto that I had so enjoyed a while back. It was a lush, green canopy of trees and vines and it was as pretty and as vibrant as anything I have seen on this journey. And utterly silent. The ringing in my ears once again fell away and peaceful calm was all I heard. Even the traffic seemed to disappear.
I just stood there, breathing in the pure oxygen that all of that beautiful vegetation was making, just for me. I watched birds silently move from tree to tree and two chipmunks chased each other a short distance away, the sound of little feet the only thing I heard for a moment.
We live in a noisy world. Cars and trucks, jackhammers and horns, music, good and bad, blasting at deafening volumes. People talking just to hear themselves speak. It is all too much sometimes. Sometimes, the best sound of all is silence.
A friend once advised me to enjoy the silence sometimes. At the time I didn’t understand, but standing in a little private grotto, in someone’s driveway outside of Memphis Tennessee. I finally got it.
SILENCE
ReplyDeleteListen to the silence
of the cars rushing by
the ticking of my watch
the blinking of my eye
Listen to the peace
of the wind in the trees
the creaking of my chair
the rustle of the leaves
Listen, listen, listen
to the buzzing in my ears
when everything is quiet
and my mind reflects its fears
[Tessa, 1969]