SOUNDS OF SILENCE

Photo by S. Auberle

SOUNDS OF SILENCE

In the 21st century
on a day soon to come
silence will depart this earth
and only a few of us will notice.

We know we'll miss
the whisper of crow wings,
night footsteps of elk,
the tiny puffs of a baby's breath,
things heard only in stillness,

but silence will be extinct,
like the species falling around us,
like pure air, like the forest cathedrals
where our ancestors once prayed.

Grieving for it, I watch a pelican
soaring alone against a purple sky.
The bird crosses the waning moon,
light gleaming on its white wings
and the mountain whispers goodbye

as it ascends, till it's only a speck,
flying to join its lost flock.
Sunlight fades as the bird vanishes
and tall clouds close in behind it,
brooding sentinels, without pity.

- mimi