Silence
©November 28th, 2019
By Vijaya Sundaram
I stay up most nights
For silence is scarce
But even past midnight
A harsh sound blares
Like a freaked-out child
Atop a high wire,
This sound swirls around,
And causes me ire.
The thing that I seek
Eludes every grasp
Every breath, every eye,
Every sibilant gasp.
Wires and fridges
And telephone poles,
And clocks and traffic
Cut deep in my soul.
I crave a deep silence
To keep out all strife
And I yearn to cradle
It all through my life.
I look and I look
But the silence I seek
Showed itself once
On a pathway too bleak.
The path is too bleak
To reach what I crave
And the silence I seek
Needs me to be brave.
So, with a long sigh
I tune myself in,
And slip into sleep –
And silence begins.
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