We Come to Silence

We come to silence slowly. Washed into the world
on a wave of sound
we leave it later with closed mouths,
our tongues grown heavy
as stones to anchor us
in earth. Now we hear
wind in the noisy leaves,
a hubbub of water
over the rocks,
the musical warfare
of the birds.
Consider the ear
shaped like the bass clef
but empty.
Consider the spaces between stars,
soliloquies of light.
It is almost time
to hush the children,
to quiet the dogs.
Even our words grow muffled
in my hair, soon
it will be only touch
I know you by.
These are the corridors
of silence; enter
on tiptoe.
Here Orpheus sleeps,
his harp unstrung.
Here the sounds
a leaf makes
falling to ground
may deafen us.

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