Silence is (not) Golden
People may tell you that silence is golden,
but it’s not.
Silence is many different colours
at different times, in different places.
The silence of the trees
is brown and wooden, stiff, unnatural.
Trees were meant to speak
and are only silent when death comes.
The silence of the stars
is silver and dancing, light, carefree.
They have no sorrows and call happily to each other
across the universe through thought.
The silence of friendship
is rich green, warm, caring
as full of meaning as the words and laughter
that come so easily.
There is a kind of silence
that comes when someone dies
A eulogy in bereavement communicated
through nothingness and everything at once
The best kind of silence
is the purply quiet that comes
when you wake at midnight and,
despite the surrounding darkness,
know that somewhere
someone else is listening too.
January 13, 2000