By Kali

Silence
All the world now sleeps
All the land now dreams
All the dreams are speaking
But in the waking world
All is silent

Silence
A night seems like a lifetime
When it’s a night spent in silent wakefulness
Restless
Tossing and turning
Listening to the nothing outside your window
Ears straining for one night-time sound
Ought-a be a nighttime sound
Owls maybe
Or perhaps a dog

A cat
Cats make nighttime sounds
But not this night
This night when you want to sleep
This night when you long for sounds
This night when you lie staring at the ceiling
And the silence hammers in your ears
And you speak in soft whispers to kill the silence
This night there is no nighttime sound

Oh, God, for a night-time sound!
Just one cricket
Just one cat
Just one creak
As the house settles down
Not this everlasting
Ever-laughing silence

Night…
Time…
Silence…

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