A blessed silence...

Hinds Feet..., a photo by paynehollow on Flickr.

I am opposed
as a matter of principle
to noise

I am willing to make an occasional allowance
for an ambulance, for instance,
or a fire engine

But only grudgingly
and with no small discomfort.

Rather, give me a rabbit
silently listening at a
field's edge

Or a cautious deer
gracefully whispering away
from sight

Give me the trickle of
a rain-swollen stream glazing
smooth pebbles

Or a deep gray fog rampaging
innocently through an
early morning woods

I can rest and be entirely at ease
with the rustle of fall leaves
skittering easterly

and I find that a blessed silence
is what is needed more often
than not.