there is
the serene silence
of peace
gently broken by the sound
of a bird
the sobering silence
of anger
that forms in the echo
of a slammed door
then there is
the soulful silence
of lovers lying side-by-side
the singular silence
of a man
alone with his thoughts
the silence of a friend
waving goodbye from the window
of a train
the silence of enemies
standing on either side
of a line in the sand
the silence of a hawk
in flight
of the sun
the stars
and the moon in the sky
of a stopped clock
of a flower unfolding
the silence just before
the film begins
of paint drying on canvas
of lips moving in prayer
the silence that occurs
before the wind
that arrives ahead of the storm
the silence between
the final vibration of a violin
and the applause of the crowd
the silence of
worry
pain
loss
distinct from
the silence
of a smile
the silence
of the color blue
or the silence
we choose
and of the thousand thousand silences
the most powerful silence of all the silences
is the silence
of silence
(D James)
