"That Quiet Place..."

Some things come across totally diferent AFTER you hear it once... just saying

Some things come across totally different AFTER you really hear it once... just saying

What is silence…  What IS …silence?  A hard question - a harder answer - hmmm.  We always seem to look for ‘that-quiet-place’ - you know the one I mean?  The one where we can relax, unwind, be just ourselves as we SEE ourselves to be…
the one where we can THINK our big thoughts, dream our dreams OUR way, do whatever WE want as we want WHEN we want.  And then - just sometimes, it finds us instead of us finding it.

And suddenly we aren’t ready somehow… or maybe it just wasn’t the place we thought it would be… or maybe it WAS exactly the place - we thought it would be…

“That-Quiet-Place…”

“Hello…”  silence…

Step, pause -- step

“Hello?”  R&B on the radio,
Click -- Jeremiah on the TV…
moving room by room...

Turning on, looking, breathing…
“hello…”
Loreena McKennitt in the BlueRay player,
step, step

…drip, thud…drip, thud

kitchen faucet on…

…then off…then on…
“hello… hello…”

shower - blasting steam billows
sinks and tub joining the crowd…

...white noise, white noise...
“hello… hello…”
empty washer blaring its dissonance
dryer joining the melody…
“Hello…”
...every light glowing,
maybe with EVERY light glowing
"HELLO..."
every light

reaching… reaching…

into the echoing …silence

a last hello… one last hello…
one last will make the difference
yes one last…

and I can't anymore
I just CAN'T

anymore

anymore.

 

“hello?”

 

Chris

 

You can listen to this one at:

 

http://www.worldpoetryopenmic.net/uploads/5/1/8/3/5183702/wpom-2015-01-23.mp3

World Poetry Open Mic  Archive

 

This is my second presentation of the show and it begins at 2:04:10.  I read on this MP3 file "An Afternoon Midnight's Reverie..." as number 6 of the first segment and this poem as number 7 of the second

Author's Note

feel free

Reviews

[...]

Chris, you're like a campfire. Your earthy warmth just invites people over and then you offer marshmallows and hotdogs and coffee and wonderful stories :) I love it

[sharonlee]

All I wanted to say was Hello ....

But I was prevented, by rules and regulations and someone else's expectations and that damn 'Please enter at least 25 characters'

Sometimes Hello is all that's needed

[Chris]

I understand...been there myself

[Country Girl47]

I could picture everything happening. Very well descriptive. Great piece.

[Beccy]

Silence is a hard commodity to come by. It's that shut of valve in the mind that never really closes down which is the problem. Love the way you pose the question, then propound the answer with all those intrusively insidious noises than can never be entirely ignored.

Peace of mind and some time to write is all I ask.

Beccy.

PS. Clicked on the link and on came Suspicious minds?

Beccy.

[Chris]

They play music as they accept callers - before they begin each segment, is the why behind my saying how far time wise into the mp3 file before my specific reading starts. Beccy, I'm glad you paused and now hope you do listen... perhaps to both presentations?

[Ken Simm.]

This got to the spot with me. Although it is true the wise man said you can be lonely in a crowd. Lonely does not mean being alone. Lonely means being alone in your head when you don't want to be.

[Chris]

well said...

[MomzillaNC]

That unexpected time alone, when company seems more desirable… that's a hard place to find yourself; it's when loneliness cannot be ignored. This, to me, seemed to be speaking of that kind of silence and the inescapable "everything" we fret over. I'm not sure I could put that sense to pen. Well done.

[Chris]

You touched on a valuable "layer" of this one...

[MomzillaNC]

Did I? Thanks. I just wanted to share how it spoke to me.

[stars are far]

That was kind of being lost, and trying to figure out where are you, or trying to search for your belonging, i think that we all have that stage in our minds, yet we dont all look through it since we have no idea whether that is narania or it is Alice's wonderland. we are afraid to see whats inside that. and when you kept repeating the "Hello" that means you are still trying to figure out something in your life and everytime you are about to give up you decide that one more chance wont hurt you (hehe ive been studying Freud since morining, and im trying to act like him hehe).

that was very well verse... well done Chris

[Chris]

stars are as far as a fingertips touch... I'm glad you paused. Perceptions are the hardest part of realities don't you think?

[stars are far]

yes i don think the same, because life isnt the truth.
And i forgot which writer says "death is the only truth".

[Chris]

life has a way of happening... leaving us to deal as best we can.

[Ov3R_sKiLl3D]

wow really enjoyed reading it ..... :)

[Chris]

Welcome to WC and I appreciate your pausing with my thoughts. Hope you find you want to return.

[armin]

very truly said we try to find a peaceful and quiet place to think big and great, but in world we living in it might be difficult to get one. I liked the way you told the story.

armin. ..

[~]

Chris, I always call it my "nothing" box. A place where no thought is invited.

[Chris]

There are so many levels to take this... on the broadcast is yet another...