Quiet
Quiet is a high scoring Scrabble word
but in the morning when I’m grieving
it’s an island that I’m stranded on
and I’m anxious to find shelter and food
It’s a filter for noise
but some loud memories
are too big to sift through
They persist as a hum in my ears
water-logged songs without lyrics
that drone long after the concert
when I stood too close to the speakers
Some quiet is inner static
Some stillness is surrender
Sometimes when I yield
to the voiceless I remember
I’m standing on a globe in space
I can hear the planets spin
and the weight of a complaining needle
scratching in the background
like an exasperated breath
across creation’s restless conscience
________Colleen Redman / Poets United
September 22nd, 2019 9:05 am
Indeed sometimes quiet is hard to live with. When there is quiet, one never knows what thoughts will pop to the surface and force themselves to be reckoned with. I do think it must be peaceful though to have the kind of quiet where one recognizes one is standing on a globe in space – ha, that is definitely a way to come to terms with one’s insignificance in the wonderful whole!!
September 22nd, 2019 9:10 am
So many ways of quiet. So many ways to explore the mystery of the absence of the things that disturb our souls.
September 22nd, 2019 10:24 am
I often find myself in moments of silence. It’s as if the world has gone quiet. In this time and space, I can hear the messages of my heart, soul and mind. It brings revelations of some sorts.
September 22nd, 2019 11:14 am
Quiet as a shading of experience…this is a remarkable image, recovering blankness and giving it depth.
September 22nd, 2019 11:16 am
I love the journey this poem takes, from Scrabble game to the image of the planet in space to creation’s restless conscience. Wonderful writing!
September 22nd, 2019 12:07 pm
This really hit me. I was sitting on the porch. but I wasn’t quiet. I came in away from that noise. Inside bill’s playing the guitar. That’s helping.
September 22nd, 2019 12:19 pm
Love this… silence can be the only thing that forces us to listen to those tremors inside… maybe that is why I always listen to music.
September 22nd, 2019 12:30 pm
This hits hard and true! ❤️ Especially like; “It’s a filter for noise but some loud memories are too big to sift through.” 🙂
September 22nd, 2019 1:55 pm
I like the transition from Scrabble game to the silence of space.
September 22nd, 2019 2:49 pm
Quiet scores highly with me, too, Colleen, especially first thing in the morning, when I’m most focused and creative. I agree with the lines:
‘It’s a filter for noise
but some loud memories
are too big to sift through’.
My favourite lines are:
‘I can hear the planets spin
and the weight of a complaining needle
scratching in the background
like an exasperated breath
across creation’s restless conscience’.
September 22nd, 2019 7:12 pm
Quietness can carry weight–your piece speaks so eloquently about the weight of it as it presses in —
September 22nd, 2019 7:56 pm
Loud memories can be more distracting than any outside source. Also, interesting to link Creation with a conscience … there’s a nurturing aspect to it but also indifference.
September 22nd, 2019 9:21 pm
If you play Scrabble in outer space, the weightless tiles form words no one can pronounce. I betcha didn’t know that, didja, CR?
Great work!
September 23rd, 2019 3:53 am
Quiet is a great time to relax and sit back and have some thinking time or even a little nap. I am sure our stress levels are reduced then. Your ears would certainly appreciate it a much more could be heard then.
September 23rd, 2019 7:47 am
Lovely reflection on the many kinds of quiet.