Noise
“The unexamined life has always been in style.
Only recently has it become mandatory for enlightened people.” —Robert J. McShea
And I’m thinking about noise and distractions and satellites and cell phones and i-pods and wireless networks and microwaves cris-crossing the universe and flat screen HD TVs and pundits and politicians and wires in the ears of half the people I pass, and surround sound and surround I-MAX and iPads, and App after App after App and lap tops and the screech of the subway, the honking of traffic, and MP3 audio players in our automobiles so that sound can go on and on and on with hardly a hesitation, so that the silence we fear need never really enter here, so that whatever thoughts might sneak in need not be endured, so that no errant path will take us somewhere surprising and unexpected, or remind us of that quiet
wherein we might hear something
perilous and sacred
whispering.
by Michael S. Glaser, first appeared in Elemental Things, The Poetry Box
Editor’s Note: The run-on sentence of this prose poem thrusts the reader into the rush of the speaker’s thoughts, emphasizing the last three lines of silence.
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