To hear

Thank you, my friend (you know who you are), for the lovely green, bamboo imprinted batik with this quotation from Le Guin's Earthsea Trilogy. A worthy reminder.

To hear,

   one must be silent.

-Ursula Le Guin

I know this

Until I forget.

I am prone

To forgetting,

Until I remember again.

This seems the way

It goes:

Knowing

Forgetting

Only to remember again.

I build buffers of silence

So I can hear.

I stop speaking

So I can hear,

Maybe then

I speak.

If I remember.

Wimp

I believe life is a series of realizations (among other things). I admit being tempted to evict the wimp from my existence, I even wrote Begone, Wimp, as part of this reflection... then took it out and added hospitality into the mix,

I come to myself.

I realize the wimp

Has inhabited my body.

She hid in the crevasse,

The abyss.

I stored things there.

I wonder how long

She has spoken for me.

I wonder at her words;

Words that moderate

What I say out loud.

There you are.

I will hold your hand,

Walk with you

Around the block,

I will speak for myself.

I will invite you

To warm yourself

In the sunshine

With the cats

On this winter day.

Words not said

Sometimes words not said were those we were hoping to hear.

Often

What is not said

Speaks louder

Than any words.

All too often

Words not said

Have a hollow echo.

They catch on tree branches

Only to fall at one’s feet

At odd times.

They inhabit the night,

Catch us

As we sleep.

These are the words

That lay behind

Oft-spoke praise

Or thank you

When we know

A but

Lurks there.

Speaking volumes

The usual people spoke way too much.   Others... not so much.  The trees lining our way to and from the meeting spoke volumes.

Mid-afternoon in the gray,

The leaves appear even brighter

Reds and oranges

Even still the greens.

The meeting which often runs late,

Ends early.

No one has much to say.

I wonder if other people’s heads

Contain what I am thinking.

Maybe so.

Perhaps not.

The way home

Bright oranges and reds

On each side of the road,

Speaks volumes.

Off

Still waking up,

I’m “off” in a few moments

To meet the one I will mentor

For confirmation.

Perhaps I’m really off

Most of the time.

I love the English language,

So many definitions

For one simple word.

So many uses

For such a simple word.

How does person

Ever learn to speak

At all?

Oh I will be a challenge

This morning.

Me and my ment-ee

Will trade words

Over something hot to drink.

Maybe I will mostly listen.