Qualities of Silence

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Silence lines up beside the turntable

waiting for her moment between songs

Silence dives below the waves

to commune with octopuses

Silence is the air cell

inside a robin’s egg

Silence bakes herself into a cake

to spring out and mouth ‘surprise!’

Silence waits in a corner, head in hands

while pots are thrown across the room

Silence is blood cruising

the body in search of oxygen

Silence lives at the end of a sentence

written in a sympathy card

Silence is my dog running after

rabbits in her dreams

Silence tastes of nothing in

the air between my lips

By Carys Owen

Written in conjunction with dVerse Poetics

4 Replies to “Qualities of Silence”

These are stunning qualities of silence, Carys, and I love the way you’ve laid out your poem, using the space to convey the silence, like breaths in between. They are all so good, but my nostalgia and love of vinyl draws me to the first stanza. I also love the image in my mind of silence baking herself (excellent pronoun) and springing out with a mouthed ‘surprise!’ This one brought tears to my eyes:
‘Silence lives at the end of a sentence
written in a sympathy card’.

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Thanks for sharing your reflections. The spaces I left were intuitive so I love your interpretation of breaths in between. I am always humbled that my words are able to evoke emotion in others. Sending your a virtual handkerchief for your tears 🙂

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