Silence:
The complete absence of sound.
The act or state of abstaining from speech.
The avoidance of mentioning or discussing something.
Some silence is valued.
A small pool of water in the Sahara,
located merely 100 yards
from my current state of dehydration.
I lay, face buried in the beautiful sand,
looking towards the pool.
Rejuvenation and revival.
A push to keep going,
keep traveling north.
Because at some point
I'll reach a village
and someone who can provide me with what I need.
Rehabilitation and resonation.
That is what a small pool of silence contains.
Not only for me,
but for every other lost traveler
in this damn world.
But silence is deadly.
A guillotine to a wrongly accused man.
The blade looming above him
ensuring release,
but at a cost.
It's prolonged starvation
calling softly to the malnourished,
promising an escape that is far less painful.
Still,
the bittersweet pool captivates me.
How can something so calming
cause internal destruction?
One small drop
with two alternatives.
A powerful puddle controls the mind.
My mind.
The world.
Shh, do you hear that?
It's the sound
of the man sitting next to you on the train,
braiding his own rope
that seals his fate in
destruction.
It's the sound
of the girl to your left
celebrating
rising with the sun,
surviving the long day,
enjoying this moment of relaxation.
It's the sound
of me
pondering life's mysteries,
plunging further into depression.
Shh, do you hear that?
It's the sound of silence.
The silence is deafening.
A constant ringing
in my ears following
me throughout my days haunting
my dreams.
The ghost mocks me,
conjuring shadows to disfigure memories.
A beautiful meadow,
flowers blooming,
peaceful,
serene,
pleasant.
However:
a contradictory term
with impending exceptions.
Such as that is silence.
Listen, do you hear?
The floating notes
of Mozart and Zeppelin
drowned out by silence.
It is not always quiet.
Silence is found in
teenage bliss
you had no desire to attend.
It is found
in the nights spent awake
listening to endless arguments
too loud to abstain from.
Silence found also in
surrounding chaos
when focused on two paths:
positive
negative.
These two powerful forces,
one more enticing than the other
yet harder to reach.
This,
this is why a puddle controls my mind.
It showcases two extremes,
one promising an easy way of thinking.
The other promising a grueling route,
but an outcome that is pleasurable.
It is a mirage,
a deceiving monster.
Look around,
listen to silence.
Each and everyone of you
experience it differently.
I promise you,
half are drinking the positive water,
surviving.
The rest resort to negative poison,
slowly dying.
So please,
listen to the silence.
