Put your ear down close to your soul
and listen hard.
How still must one be to hear the soul’s message? How quiet?
We live in a noisy world. Sitting to write I turned off all the sound makers. No TV, no music, no blowing fans. For a brief moment I felt the presence of silence. It was solid- hanging in the air, it surrounded me, strong and calm.
But it did not last long. The noise makers I could not control begin to buzz with motors and gears. The heater came on, the ice maker filled with water and dropped cubes into the tray. Birds arrived on the feeders with song and chatter.
Does the call to still quiet have anything to do with noise from outside?
Anne Sexton, from Letter Written on a Ferry.
Carrie's Bench 