Listenting To Silence Poem by Rita Shay

Silence is an uncomfortable thing.
I would like to fill it up with any words I can find.
Because it is such an unfortunate sound to hear.

Except in the mornings,
When I'm carpooling somewhere.

Sitting in a red minivan
At the peak of day,
Looking through a clear window
Of the car I am not driving,
Is something I do not mind.

Silence rests between
The girls that rest of either side of me.
No one asks a thing of me
And in turn, I learned nothing of them,
Not even words.

It sounds awful
Four girls sitting side by side
On their way to school
In dead silence
That is never broken.

But after a year or two of these silent mornings
They grow on you.

When I listened to the silence
I saw a world out that car window
One that would have been missed
With loud music blasting
And words no one wanted to say
Or respond to.


With anyone else
Silence is bitter and uncomfortable
But those 45 minute daily drives
Feel warm to me.

Staring out the window
Half asleep
And not a care in the world
Listening to beautiful
Golden silence
Isn't so bad after all.