P-E-A-C-E, Sounds of Silence

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._N._Taber

The world is always turning, yet how little it has changed in real terms (i.e. those that really count) since its creation...

Recent reminders of war and fierce resistance to dictatorship in various parts of the world and hate crime on our very own doorsteps brought this poem to mind.

When will they ever learn? Oh, when will we (all) ever learn?

This poem is a villanelle.

  

P-E-A-C-E,  SOUNDS OF SILENCE 

Oh, for the sound of silence
as only heard in dreams
where no one wins or loses,
but common sense rules
on a reality check where grief

ceases firing its guns

in a deaf-blind rage against
a mind-body-spirit
down but never out if slower
to take heart

No escape from loneliness

on wings of a bird...

but in the sound of silence

before applause bursts

upon the grand Theatre of Life

for our playing a part

rather than sitting in the stalls

letting better actors

than ourselves be accomplices

to illusion

Where poverty, hunger,  pain,

crying out to be free,

find in loving one another

no small relief 

from the failings of any senses

put on hold for want

of meaning, purpose and faith

in ourselves, 

bring light to the darkness angels 

fear to tread

Oh, to let fall a safety curtain
on worldly sounds
distracting mind-body-spirit
from finding peace,
as a child chasing a butterfly
might well be
by the shouts of peers apparently
enjoying more rewards
than in a seemingly futile pursuit
of quiet wings

Copyright R. N. Taber 2004; 2018

[Note: An earlier version of this poem appears under the title 'Towards Enlightenment' in The Third Eye by R. N. Taber, Assembly Books, 2004.]