It is so quiet,
I can hear
the silence.

Piercing,
deafening,
maddening.

Shaping space,
offering shelter
to whoever.

Providing
a backdrop
for drama.

The quiet,
may offer
comfort

or become
the place that
shatters sanity,

births hope
while silencing
inspiration.

Quiet can heal
or destroy a planet
or a universe.

What do you want
and what
would you risk?

It is
this power
that determines

our willingness
to be humane or
soulless for eternity.

 

Janet Cormier is a painter, writes prose and poetry, and performs comedy. Janet prefers different and original over pretty. She loves collecting stuff, but cleaning not so much. Janet also talks to strangers. A lot. Her column appears weekly on Oddball Magazine.