The Quiet Ones - Dec 25 2023

 

The Quiet Ones

Dec 25 2023



It's the quiet ones

you have to watch out for.

Who suffer silently.

Who don't threaten, boast, cajole,

but stew

in their grievances,

then act without warning.

Who look on unobtrusively;

observing,

reserving judgement,

seeing through the artifice.

Who souses out the secrets

and shameful truths,

the hapless self-delusion

and clever subterfuge.

But we think highly of the listener

who nods his head as we speak,

defers to our opinions

attends respectfully;

what wisdom, we think,

what a sharp discerning fellow.

When it could just as well have been

simple ignorance

polite contempt.

But these days, all I hear is noise.

People talking over each other.

Jargon 

and bafflegab.

Outrage and slur

profanity and goad.

So I wonder

if society has coarsened

and we're pulling apart.

Or if the air is full of noise

because we're no longer at ease

alone with our thoughts.

Either that

or afraid to be.

And then the silent ones

who suffer privately.

Who talk only to themselves;

reluctant to share

lest they be judged.

Whom you'd never suspect,

but need watching out for.

Or the ones

keeping mum

until the time is right,

their only tell

the quiet desperation

you can see in their eyes.

Who are all pent-up,

and need watching even more.