silence

Silence. No one woke me up this morning, not even the dog. I listen to the songs of birds, the tap of the key board, the gurgle of the coffee pot. Every minute or so a car drives by. The computer hums, squirrels chatter. Lawnmower starts.

I rest in the silence. There is much to do and yet I don’t feel compelled to do very much. I could clean the house, but it can wait. I should turn on the sprinklers and water the ferns.

My muscles are deeply still and satisfied. My mind searches for the same satisfaction. As long as I don’t read the papers or surf through much of the web I can stay in the rest of silence. I’ll go for a long walk in the woods and listen to mountain song. I’ll keep my eyes high off the ground and look into space between branches. Breath the exhalation of tree and fern and poison oak. Tread as softly as I can. Continue to breath and experience this simple life. Then I’ll read the papers and decide if I need to write to the president. There is so much I would want to tell him but he doesn’t seem to listen. So, I just keep going back to the woods and listening quietly to the earth speaking to me. I go back to the dance floor and listen to the bodies of my friends. I spend time with my family and listen to their struggles and their joys. It is enough.