We sit with heart and mind
Wide open, doors and windows ajar,
Seeking the sound of silence:
Nada!
Outside, the mockingbird
Begins to sing, endless lilting
Trills, arpeggios, cover tunes
Bringing news to and from
The neighborhood.
O, sing on, mockingbird!
Sing endlessly, lifting
Our souls in beauty,
Joy, joy, joy!
But could you
Skip the grating parts
That remind us that the hedge
Needs to be trimmed?
The neighbor's little yippy dog
Begins to bark, barks incessantly:
Yip-yip-yippy-yip:
Annoy-annoy-annoy, a noise.
We curse the neighbor who would leave
The little cur to suffer so,
Until, at last, a whine, and then
A blessed pause, and we wonder
Is the little dog OK?
Impatient for the silence to begin
We add some effort, strain inward...
And mistake the whoosh
Of passing cars for nada,
Mistake the hum
Of passing life for our life,
Mistake the buzz
Of passing thoughts for our thoughts,
Avoidavoidavoid the void,
Mistake the ending bell for relief
From apparently fruitless
Pursuit of silence,
Sincerely believing
That ignorance is bliss.
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