Soul Blossoming A to Z: Q is for Quiet

Quiet: making little or no noise

Silence: complete absence of sound

Happy Poetry Friday–and Happy Q-Day

Today’s Poetry Friday is hosted by The Poem Farm.  You can follow this link and see what our host, Amy, is doing for National Poetry Month and what other poets have to share, as well.

And today’s letter:

The search for quiet–a poem (in progress)

In many of the stories I write–and the ones I tell myself–the protagonist heads out to the forest. The forest, for me, symbolizes magic, the wildness of nature, the spirit of the earth, a place of quiet, too.

So come with me–on a sound journey

Through the city–

traffic and the sound

of voices, of radios

blaring, snippets roar by

a song, the weather

dogs barking,

sirens screaming

all punctuate the walker’s

quiet footsteps.

 

Through the field–

birds and insects

sing

A symphony  of

chatter and wings.

Grasses swoosh

in the breeze

and crunch

underfoot.

 

Into the woods–

soft rustling

in the underbrush,

unseen feet.

Leaves and squirrels

converse

high above.

 

Finally,

the clear pool—

Dive deep

splash! then descend–

Bubbles make

a tickly sound

Then, for a moment,

quiet

Except maybe

the sound

of a heartbeat

and the silence

of lungs

demanding air

 

So back to the surface

to the world of sound

to home.

 

But perhaps,

carrying more

quiet within.

Quiet vs Silence

Life is not silent. Our bodies make noises–although we may not hear many of them when we’re out and about. Even out in nature, out of cities and towns, we hear sounds. Pleasant sounds, perhaps, but sounds nonetheless. I guess that when I think of quietude, I think of my own inner quiet. As I wrote in my post on the observer, we can observe ourselves and the world around us, but this requires a certain amount of inner quiet. Being in a noisy place can also, for sure, make finding our inner quiet more difficult. It reminds me of that poem–the Desiderata by Max Ehrmann

:

• Go placidly amid the noise and haste,

• and remember what peace there may be in silence.

• As far as possible without surrender

• be on good terms with all persons.

• Speak your truth quietly and clearly;

• and listen to others,

• even the dull and the ignorant;

          they too have their story…

For me, key words here are “as far as possible without surrender” and “Speak your truth quietly and clearly”

(you can read the rest of the poem here)

That’s all for now–I’m going to contemplate my post for tomorrow–which is rest–by doing it!

Thanks for stopping by. And happy Flower Moon! xoxo