The cacophony of the city
Booms, beeps, hoots, yells
Its ungodly symphony.
Now the tortured whining of couplings
As metal abrades against metal,
Mimicking the agonised screams
Of the doomed in Hell.
The kerluck-kerluck of wheels on rails
Comforts somehow, like the rocking of the cradle.
The craving for silence,
The soul-soothing, soul-mending silence
Reaches a drug-like desperation.
An anodyne to calm the aching head,
Beset with the churning anxieties of life.
Breathe, breathe they say!
The shush of mechanical doors,
The gentle jolt of halting, rolling stock.
Go now,
Climb with fevered intensity
To the green summit,
To the cliff’s edge,
The edge overlooking the miraculous valley
Green and gold and veiled in mist –
Breathe and breathe again,
Here is the golden silence,
The God-given silence of the green world,
Breathe, breathe and breathe again.
‘Seeking Silence’
