Shared Silences

Jan 7 2018

In silence, we're most often alone;

letting the mind wander

listening to our own thoughts.

But I see the old couple

dining together

who haven't said a word.

Do they enjoy the shared silence?

Or after all these years

have they run out of things to say?

Either way

they seem at ease with this;

where most of us

would feel the awkward heat

of social expectation

burning ears and tongues.

An older couple

who are still in love,

but whose infatuation

has naturally given way

to the quiet attachment of age.

I envy their comfort,

even if it's only the residue

of resigned familiarity.

Because the pressure of speech

builds in us like steam

in a closed vessel

testing its strength;

the social grooming, polite inanities,

the need to display

find meaning

connect.

We may be visual creatures,

but hearing is the most powerful sense;

setting-off alarms

that make the pulse quicken, muscles tense,

acting at a distance

in spite of walls

darkness

denial.

And most of all, the spoken voice;

because the power of speech

is the fundamental thing

that makes us human,

even a simple conversation

about the day's weather

idle gossip

or really nothing at all.

He glances up, she passes the salt.

Who knows

If under the table

their feet surreptitiously touch?

If in the exchange

their fingers brushed briefly?

Man and wife, I assume

for no good reason at all.

An indifferent pair

seated across a table,
blank looks, and distant gazes

as they dully chew their food?

Or a constant couple
who feel no urge to talk,
sitting together
in well-contented calm?

Deaf

to the clatter of plates
the buzz of the crowd.

A sentimental song

from when they were young

filling in the lulls.