Silence

I

and when the world was asleep,
empty and hungry
after the noise and glare
of yet another tiring day,
I sank into those pools
of unfocussed joy,
I watched your tiny lips
curl over my breast,
as we drank in
the fullness of silence
together -
mother and weaned baby;
two souls set
in the peace and stillness
of an extraordinary star-filled night.


II

amidst gunshots and slogans,
buildings razed and moving homes,
I wonder how we are so noisy,
when we are but little specks of dust
stumbling and falling through the cosmos;
when the big things that drive us
seem to move and grow
in deep silence -
the earth pirouetting on her axis,
stars exploding into themselves,
cells dividing and sharing their glory,
the sap flowing through to light up a dainty flower,
rainclouds cooking up a storm in an empty sky;
I have to pay attention to that silence,
and let it flow through me, with me.


III

and I unpacked my silence
as I stared into the inflamed sky
sipping on my warm tea,
so I could be wholly aflame
with the silence of an ordinary day,
like the Flame of the Forest
lighting up a deserted highway.