707. Silence is exhilarating at first – as noise is – but there is a sweetness to silence outlasting exhilaration, akin to the sweetness of listening and the velvet of sleep. ~Edward Hoaglan

by

19

Let me silent be,
For silence is the speech of love,
The music of the spheres above.
~Richard Henry Stoddard

Screen shot 2015-04-18 at 8.36.34 AMPoetic Black and White Watercolors 
of Children With Wild Animals 
by Elicia Elidanto

Spring

Somewhere
a black bear
has just risen from sleep
and is staring

down the mountain.
All night
in the brisk and shallow restlessness
of early spring

I think of her,
her four black fists
flicking the gravel,
her tongue

like a red fire
touching the grass,
the cold water.
There is only one question:

how to love this world.
I think of her
rising
like a black and leafy ledge

to sharpen her claws against
the silence
of the trees.
Whatever else

my life is
with its poems
and its music
and its glass cities,

it is also this dazzling darkness
coming
down the mountain,
breathing and tasting;

all day I think of her —
her white teeth,
her wordlessness,
her perfect love.
~Mary Oliver

…a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak… ~Ecclesiastes 3:7   ✝

19 thoughts on “707. Silence is exhilarating at first – as noise is – but there is a sweetness to silence outlasting exhilaration, akin to the sweetness of listening and the velvet of sleep. ~Edward Hoaglan”

    • Not to mention peace and tranquility. My writings always come from the silences I find around me. How else can we listen to the rumblings of our hearts or the thoughts of our minds?! Brad as a teacher, I dealt with more noise in the 31 years than you can imagine.
      So silence, as they say, is golden for me and I treasure my silences now so much. The great thing about my garden is that it’s the only place I’ve ever spent time where my thoughts cease and I just simply focus on the now and what I’m doing. It allows for great clarity when in fact I sit in the silence of even my own mind. Here’s to sweet, sweet, silence!!!! Hugs, N 🙂 ❤

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  5. That photo is just amazing. I actually like going to the park and just listen to the birdsong. It recharges my mind and calms it down. A time to think about what the Lord God has given us. And that scripture has popped up again for me – a message for me.

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    • Isn’t that watercolor, lovely? I found it on Pinterest and copy and pasted it so I could use it with Oliver’s poem. And you’re right, it’s always good to think about what the Lord has given us. I’m glad you enjoyed post and the scripture. Hugs, N 🙂 ❤

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