The Silences

The silence of a cat

stalking its prey

The silence of a sleeping

child

The silence of algebra II

while the instructor

waits

for an answer

The silence of a woman

who can’t work out the words

The silence of a man

with nothing to say

The silence of rage

The silence of heat

The silence of death

 

The silence between ocean waves

The silence between friends

The silence between

Blips

on a heart monitor

 

Library silence

Pregnant silence

Expectant silence

Migraine silence

 

The silence during

the Consecration

 

The silence inside

a moving bus full of people

The silence inside

an empty school

The silence inside

your head

when you are

underwater

 

The silence after

the TV is turned off

The silence after

crickets

(and before

birds)

The silence

after

a car wreck

 

The silence when

you are alone

at 4:12 a.m.

with cracked words

 sweltering in your mouth

and no reason

to speak them

 

aloud

Reviews

[KAOlmsted]

You forgot elevator silence...nothing more quiet than an elevator full of people ;-)

This is fantastic, J...That last stanza really hit home. I can't tell you how many nights I've been lying awake, chewing on words, unable to spit them out, loathe to swallow them...

Exceptional.

[J_Star]

*facepalm* totally elevator silence. and anticipatory silence.

the word "reason" in the last stanza trips me up. It isn't the right word. But I can't find the right word. "way" "ability" "impetus" f**k I don't know. something.

thanks for the review and the love. x0x0x0

[KAOlmsted]

My absolute pleasure, on both.

Motive? Ha, trust me to come up with the word motive xD

[David Scott]

You had me hooked after a few lines. I thought I knew where this was heading, but you gave me a smack in the face by relating this to your previous poetry in< The silence after a car wreck".
I am thinking hard about what you finish this thought with, "no reason to speak them aloud".
Yes, I can see this time for silence. Much like the silence of every other situation you gave here Star. There is a time and the place is only relative to the time appropriate for the given thought of silence.
Yet before silence there is something; something more and often something less. Also, after the silence, there is a time for the mouth to moisten and the words to be heard...
My heart goes to you in this thought and in this silence. May you find my words a comfort to the "dryness" of the silence you described so well.
The poetry here is special and the emotion is felt as loud as thunder!

[J_Star]

I do admire and love the silence of silence you speak out loud here.
This is perfect, for so many are silent, and don't dare to speak out loud...
Or just don't have the mood for it, here you bring us back to pretty well a few moments,
we can relate too, I think that's astonishing of you.

- Elisa

[J_Star]

Thank you so much, Elisa.

[ANTO]

God I hate silence when I'm around people. I think its my aspie tendencies. My head soon fills with what I think other people are thinking (or maybe what they really are thinking which would make me telepathic).

This is a great topic J_Star and you explored it brilliantly. Well written and laid out.

[J_Star]

I feel that. Thanks for the read and review!

[ANTO]

Your welcome

[Sami Khalil]

A splendid read and write. I enjoyed it tremendously...:)

[J_Star]

Thank you, Sami!

[Sami Khalil]

You are welcome...:)

[Girl Friday (Sarah W.)]

The silence of algebra II
while the instructor
waits
for an answer -- this is probably the most unique and creative image in the entire piece. Truly loved this, and could picture it completely.

On a whole, I think this is a pretty good piece. Your have written strongly and poignantly, using a good amount of imagery and metaphor. The only small things that threw me off were perhaps a little wordiness in terms of the length and the flow in some places, but these are really minor. The piece speaks brightly and I really enjoyed the read.

[Aethereal]

A most inspiring poem! The contemplation of silence leads to many truth. Silence is the loudest voice of all for it transports us between worlds. Silence holds our moments together across eternity. Silence is a death, and Death is just an interlude. Information is composed of events punctuated by interludes. We are information.

[J_Star]

Thank you so much for the read and review, Aethereal!

[Rita L. Sev]

Silence can say so much, and can be so loud... I had to smile at this one:
The silence of algebra II
while the instructor
waits
for an answer

It happens in English class, too...Incredible auditory imagery, through lack of it - amazing

I am reading this in a quite house, now listening to the silence.

[J_Star]

Thank you so much, Rita. There is so much inside silence, if you take the time to listen.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

this is great...in between the words being spoken...the most important times...

often it is not what we say that counts, but what we don't say.

those pregnant pauses...best some times if we never deliver...especially in algebra...probably be a wrong answer.

good stuff here.nicely constructed piece....layout etc.

[J_Star]

Thank you for reading, Jacob.

[Rane Miller]

"The silence after
crickets
(and before
birds)" this was my favorite part (besides the ending, THAT was brilliant). It's so... pretty. It paints a picture for the entire piece, in my opinion. Well done.

[J_Star]

Thank you so much, Rane.