Silence

Look at these geese.  Look at the way they wiggle their tails as they walk in one straight trial. It’s rather funny how they freely wander on Merion Green.  They wander like I do, but I wish I wasn’t chained to the ground. Look at how their heads dive into the ground for food. I think I’m lucky that I don’t have to do that because food is already prepared for me in the dining halls. Look at their tiny legs. Look at how they outrun me with their short, black and webby legs. Why are they faster than me? I obviously take longer strides than they do. How is this even possible? Perhaps they take more steps than I do. I’m confused right now. Pause. The cool breeze brushes through my skin. The branches rustle in the wind. Engine fires in the background.  Voices came from all directions of the compass. Too many sensations, I need to focus on one. I can’t. I absolute can’t focus on anything except the sound of my voice in my head. I need silence.

Silence
Thomas Hood

There is a silence where hath been no sound,
There is a silence where no sound may be,
In the cold grave—under the deep deep sea,
Or in the wide desert where no life is found,
Which hath been mute, and still must sleep profound;
No voice is hush’d—no life treads silently,
But clouds and cloudy shadows wander free,
That never spoke, over the idle ground:
But in green ruins, in the desolate walls
Of antique palaces, where Man hath been,
Though the dun fox, or wild hyena, calls,
And owls, that flit continually between,
Shriek to the echo, and the low winds moan,
There the true Silence is, self-conscious and alone.