All 6 Billion
May 17 2008


I am amazed
to be in this silent space
on a such a tiny planet,
and in this cacophony
thankful to be so deaf.

Because in this exact instant
someplace,
there’s a dying man weeping
someone fighting with his wife
and a newborn baby’s cry,
that shrill full-bodied wail.
And how many making love
all at once,
breathing hard
shouting-out the name of God?
Adding one-by-one to the racket;
all 6 billion
bristling with exquisite noise.

It would overwhelm me
to be crushed by so much sound,
by the weight of all this pain
and joy
— 6 billion seconds
compressed into one.

Downtown, there are wide sidewalks
people streaming past.
We keep on moving,
we maintain our space,
our separateness
as essential as breathing.
Because if we let down the barricades
the whole world would come flooding-in,
6 billion chattering souls
sending us running like madmen
— hands to our ears,
screaming to keep out the noise.