Silence

There is the sudden silence of the crowd

above a player

not moving on the field,

and the silence of the orchid.


The silence of the falling vase

before it strikes the floor,

the silence of the belt when it is not striking the child.


The stillness of the cup and the water in it,

the silence of the moon

and the quiet of the day far from the roar of the sun.


The silence when I hold you to my chest,

the silence of the window above us,

and the silence when you rise and turn away.


And there is the silence of this morning

which I have broken with my pen,

a silence that had piled up all night


like snow falling in the darkness of the house—

the silence before I wrote a word

and the poorer silence now.

- Billy Collins