Infinite ripples

within a perfect silence
I heard the world around me
a train’s distant clatter
a cricket rasping its legs
the television in the next room
thunder overhanging the roof

deeper in that silence
I heard a beauteous song
a weightless voice meandering
through the whispers of
a lilted instrument
the words too faint
to unravel
catch a loose thread
pull it towards me
deepen the entrancement

one day I heard
conversations across a room
sharply emerging then
diffusing into the clamor
for a moment
I was standing
beside couples
families and friends
privy to their lives

when I walked by
people smiled at me
the eavesdropper
to let me know
they didn’t mind
maybe they sensed
my bliss and smiled
because it felt good

sometimes it’s the sound
of water tumbling over and under
oval stones carelessly flung
across a winding bed
other times I hear
the flutter of a thousand wings
gently buffeting my ears
sometimes the stillness
expands into a single
lingering note
wordless
soundless


© 2001 Melissa Songer